AN: This is an updated, revised version of my previously published story. I decided to re-publish this story (with a few minor changes) because I am working on a collection of stories featuring the OC's introduced in this story.
Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds. I only own Shannon and Julia, my OC's.
~CM~
Early Nov 2011
"Grandpa, Grandpa, Grandpa!" the voice of a young girl called as she ran throughout the busy BAU bullpen. It was 9am on a Tuesday morning, and many of the BAU agents were at their desks working on paperwork and wondering where their next case would take them. The little girl had curly brown hair that hung just past her shoulders while her bright green eyes were nearly hidden under her bangs.
"Julia baby, what did Mama say when we were in the elevators?" A young woman with dark brown hair asked the young girl.
"Stay with you and no yelling," the little girl said sheepishly as her mother reached the spot where she had stopped. "I'm sorry mama, I forgotted."
"Forgot," the young woman corrected her daughter. "And it's okay. We all forget sometimes. But there are a lot of people here, so it's very important that you stay right next to me."
"Okay mama. Are we going to go see Grandpa now?" she asked impatiently.
Yes, baby, we are going to see to see Grandpa. Just calm down," Shannon couldn't help but laugh at her young daughter's enthusiasm.
"She seems excited about seeing her Grandpa," a skinny young man with long brown hair commented as Shannon and Julia walked past his desk. He had been working on a case report when he heard the young girl yell.
"Just a little bit," Shannon agreed. "She's almost always excited about something. I guess the world is a much more exciting place to a four year old."
"That is true. Also, most four year olds only see the world how they want to see it. They have a hard time seeing another person's point of view. I'm Spencer, Spencer Reid," he said as he extended his hand toward her.
"Okay, genius boy. Stop boring her with nonsense," a tall, dark skinned man ribbed as he sat at a desk across from Spencer. He had been working on a case report, but he was more interested in the beautiful young woman in front of him.
"It's not nonsense Morgan. Jean Piaget is a psychologist best known for his work in cognitive development," Spencer said. He started to say something else, but was interrupted by Shannon's soft voice.
"It's nice to meet you Spencer. I'm Shannon Rossi and this young lady is my daughter Julia. Julia, can you say hi to Spencer," Shannon encouraged her daughter.
"I'm Special Agent Derek Morgan," Morgan introduced himself to Shannon as he pulled out a chair for her to sit in. "Wait, did you say Rossi? As in David Rossi? Please tell me you are not one of the ex-Mrs. Rossi's." Morgan thought the woman in front of him looked far too young to have been married and divorced already. Besides, Dave never mentioned that he had children, especially not a child as young as Julia.
"Nope, that would be MISS Shannon Rossi," Shannon emphasized as she sat down, clearly seeing where Derek's thinking had gone. "My mother was the second Mrs. Rossi."
"Wait, so you're Dave's daughter?" Spencer asked, clearly confused by this new bit of information.
"For a genius Spencer, you sometimes aren't very smart. That's exactly what she just said," a woman with long dark hair retorted as she sat down at the only desk that was still unoccupied. "I hope these two," gesturing at Morgan and Reid, "haven't been too obnoxious. They have a tendency to wreak havoc if left unsupervised for more than five minutes."
"Shut it Prentiss, Genius boy and I are not that bad," Morgan quipped back at her.
Ignoring both Morgan and Reid, the woman turned toward the visitor. "I'm Emily Prentiss," the female profiler introduced herself. "And you are Rossi's daughter I take it."
"Yep, the one and only," Shannon replied. "Do any of you know where my dad would be?"
"Shannon? Julia?" a loud male voice came from the catwalk that surrounded the bullpen.
"Grandpa," Julia yelled after hearing her grandfather's voice. "Mama and I came to visit you. She said it would be a surprise."
"Well it certainly is a surprise little one," Dave said as he picked up his granddaughter and spun around with her. A very good surprise too!" Turning to face his daughter, he said "I didn't realize you were in Virginia Shannon. When did you get here?"
"We flew into Dulles late last night. I've been offered a position at the FBI childcare center here and I have a meeting with the director tomorrow. I figured that Julia and I would come down here a day early to visit you and then spend a few days exploring DC. Julia hasn't been to many places outside of New York, and I want her to experience other cities. Other countries too, but that will wait until she's a bit older." The short flight from New York to DC seemed much longer when traveling with a hyper active four year old.
"Well I'm glad you're here, you should have called me when you landed. I would have picked you up from the airport." He took the extra chair that was at Reid's desk and allowed Julia to sit in his lap. "I see you've met Agents Prentiss and Morgan, as well as Dr. Reid," he pointed to each of the three agents sitting with them.
"He didn't go to medical school. He has three PhD's," Morgan explained. "He's our resident boy genius." The paperwork Morgan had been working on earlier now sat ignored on his desk as he observed Shannon. Her dark brown hair reached almost to the middle of her back, and it had the slightest curl to it. 'No ring on her finger means she's not married,' he thought. Recalling her earlier comment about her and Julia flying made him wonder if the little girl's father was in the picture at all. Having grown up without his father, Morgan knew how hard that scenario could be.
"Morgan, you should know that I don't believe that intelligence can be accurately quantified," Spencer told the other agent.
"I know that. I also know that you have an IQ of 187, an eidetic memory, and can read an entire book in less than five minutes," Morgan responded. "And you're probably the only person in the world that has read 'War and Peace' more than once."
"I've never managed to read more than a page of War and Peace. Russian literature isn't really my thing," Shannon laughed. "I have however read the entire Harry Potter series at least a dozen times."
"Mama, I'm thirsty," Julia said. "Can Grandpa take me to get some apple juice?"
"I'm only going as far as the vending machine in our break room. It's still on this floor," Dave told his daughter. He knew that Shannon was used to being her young daughter's only caregiver and that leaving, or in this case, letting her daughter go with someone else was a big deal.
That's fine Dad, you can take her. Just keep an eye on her. She'll run off if you give her five seconds where she's unsupervised," Shannon said as she reached to get her purse out of her wallet. Handing him a few dollars, "This should cover juice and a snack, because she'll probably want a snack too."
"I don't need this," he replied, handing the money back to her. "Besides, I want to spoil my granddaughter."
Shannon rolled her eyes, "Please choose a snack that isn't pure sugar. I don't want her to be sugar high later."
"Chill bambina, I'm not buying her one of those energy drink things, just a little bit good ol' fashion chocolate. You can't go wrong with a Hershey bar," Dave teased his daughter.
"Did you know that sugar doesn't actually cause hyperactivity in kids?" Spencer told Shannon once Dave and Julia had walked toward the break room. "There was a research study that showed that sugar consumption had little to no effect on hyperactivity in kids." He would have continued, but just then another woman approached the group.
"Do you guys know whose child is with Dave? I just saw them headed toward the break room," the blonde woman said as she stopped near Emily's desk.
"JJ, I'd like you to meet Shannon Rossi. She is Dave's daughter and the little girl with him is her daughter," Emily introduced the young woman to their team's media liaison. Years of being an ambassador's daughter had, if nothing else, taught Emily how to introduce others.
"Jennifer Jareau," the blonde woman said as she extended her hand to the other woman. "You can just call me JJ though, most people do."
"Shannon Rossi," she replied, shaking hands with JJ. "Like Emily said I am Dave's daughter. My dad took my daughter Julia to find some apple juice."
"Ah okay," JJ said. She didn't seem shocked by the introduction of Dave's daughter, Morgan noticed. "I'm just not used to seeing Dave around children. It's normally Aaron, Emily or I that work with children on our cases."
"Dad is really good with Julia. He loves to spoil her, although he doesn't get to spoil her much since we live in New York. That may change if I accept the job here," Shannon told JJ.
"How old is Julia?" JJ asked.
"She just turned four last month," Shannon replied. "Do you have kids?"
"Just one; Henry is almost three," JJ smiled at the thought of her little boy, who never failed to make her smile.
"When is his birthday?" Shannon inquired.
"Nov 12," the blonde profiler responded.
"Mama, look what Grandpa bought me," Julie chimed as she and Dave returned to the group. She proudly held up a bottle of apple juice and a bag of animal crackers.
"That was very nice of him. Did you remember to thank Grandpa for buying your snack?" Shannon asked her daughter.
"Thank you Grandpa," the little girl said.
"You are very welcome Princess," Dave responded. He saw the look that Morgan was giving him and glared back at the younger agent, as though he were challenging him to say something.
"Not to break up this party, but don't you all have paperwork to do?" Aaron Hotchner asked as he walked to where the rest of his team was sitting. Morgan, Prentiss, JJ, and Rossi were talking to another young woman, while Spencer was entertaining a young girl with a magic trick. He wasn't surprised that they had abandoned their paperwork. It was the bane of most FBI agents and law enforcement officers in general. "Shannon, how are you? Wait, what are you doing in Quantico?"
"Hi, Aaron. I was offered a job at the childcare center here at Quantico. I'm meeting with the director tomorrow but I decided to come down early and visit Dad," Shannon replied. JJ, Emily, Derek, and Reid were surprised with their boss' greeting. Judging from the greeting, he had met Shannon before. The three exchanged confused glances which didn't go unnoticed by the two older profilers. "Julia and I are also going to spend a few days exploring DC."
"I hope your meeting with the director goes well," Hotch responded. "Exploring DC sounds like a fun mom-and-me trip for Julia."
"It should be fun. And everything is mom-and-me for Julia; it kind of happens when you're a single parent," Shannon said. Realizing that Haley's death a few years ago made him Jack's only parent, she gasped, "Oh I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that."
"No worries Shannon," Aaron smiled, which only further confused the team of profilers. Their normally stoic boss almost never smiled. "I've adjusted to being a single parent."
"It happens. Although for me there wasn't much adjusting considering I've always been Julia's only parent," Shannon stated. "I think I'm doing a pretty good job."
"You are doing an amazing job of raising Julia," Dave told his daughter. "Don't ever let yourself think otherwise. Why don't we go to my office and chat? I think Aaron would appreciate it if we left Emily, Morgan, and Reid alone so that they can get some work done."
"Somehow I get the feeling that they won't get much work done even if we leave them alone," Shannon laughed. "Baby, say goodbye to Mr. Derek, Mr. Spencer, and Miss Emily. We're going to talk to Grandpa in his office so they can get back to work."
"Bye," Julia told each of the FBI agents still present. JJ has already returned to her office. "Mr. Spencer, if I come to visit again, will you do more magic tricks?"
"Of course kiddo," Spencer told the little girl.
"Bye Julia," Emily said as Morgan waved. Dave, Shannon and Julia then walked up the short flight of stairs to the observation deck where Dave's office was located. Julia gave the trio one last wave before disappearing into her grandpa's office.
"So you're taking a job in Quantico?" Dave asked his daughter once they were situated in his office; he was at his desk while Shannon and Julia sat at the couch.
I have been offered the job, and I'm seriously considering taking it," Shannon explained to her father. "I'm not making a decision until after my meeting with the director tomorrow." Seeing that her daughter was getting antsy, she grabbed a coloring book and a pack of crayons out of her purse, "Julia baby, would you like to color? I grabbed your Beauty and the Beast coloring book."
"Yes mama. Grandpa would you like me to color a picture for you?" the little girl asked excitedly.
"Sure princess, I would love a picture from you," Dave smiled at his granddaughter as she began to focus on her coloring.
"So tell me more about this job. What would you be doing?" Dave questioned.
"I would be teaching pre-kindergarten. Most of my students will be four or five years old. I would also be helping to develop and improve their pre-kindergarten curriculum," Shannon explained. Shannon had graduated from Columbia a few years ago with a bachelor's degree in Early Childhood Education and Development. She had spent the years since graduation working at a preschool in New York while raising her daughter.
"Sounds like a job that you would enjoy," Dave replied.
"I would, young kids are so much fun to work with. They are so curious and inquisitive about everything." Just then a knock sounded on Dave's closed officer door.
"Come in Garcia," Dave announced without bothering to open the door. Each of the members had their own way of knocking, so it was easy to know who was knocking without checking the door.
"Hey Rossi," Penelope said as she breezed into his office. Her fiery red hair was complemented by the yellow, orange, and pink floral dress that she was wearing. Adorning her wrist was a collection of chunky bracelets that matched the flowers on her dress. "JJ just told me that Hotch wants everyone in the conference room in ten." Seeing Shannon and Julia in his office, she said "Oh, I didn't realize that you had visitors."
"My daughter Shannon and her daughter Julia stopped by for a visit. Shannon, Julia, this is Penelope Garcia. She is the technical analyst for our team," Dave said as he introduced the two women. Garcia's eyes widened slightly when Dave mentioned that Shannon was his daughter.
"Hi Penelope," Shannon said. Julia only gave a slight wave as she immersed herself in the picture she was coloring.
"Nice to meet you Shannon," Garcia responded. 'So the rumors are true, Dave does have a daughter,' Garcia thought. Morgan had sent her a text about Rossi's daughter, which JJ confirmed when she stopped at her office.
"Anyway, conference room in ten," Garcia reminded Rossi as she left his office.
"Sounds like you need to get back to work," Shannon stated. "Julia baby, pick up your crayons and coloring book please. We need to let Grandpa get back to work."
"But Mama, I'm not done with Grandpa's picture yet," Julia whined.
"Baby, you can finish it tonight at the hotel and we'll bring it back before we go back to New York. Okay?" Shannon suggested.
"Fine," the young girl sighed dramatically. She put her crayons in their box and handed both the crayons and coloring book back to her mother.
"We'll be in DC until Friday Dad. If you don't get called out on a case, we should meet for dinner one night," Shannon knew that her father's job required quite a bit of travel, and that this may be their only visit with him during this trip to DC.
"It sounds like were headed out on a case today, but if we're back in time, dinner sounds like a great idea," Dave told her.
"Julia baby, give Grandpa hugs and kisses. It's time for us to go," Shannon directed her daughter.
"Bye Grandpa, I love you!" Julia said as her grandpa picked her up.
"I love you too little princess. Behave for your mama." Looking at his daughter he said, "I love you too, Shan. I'll call you later this week about dinner." The two girls left Dave's office and made their way down through the bullpen. 'There go my girls,' Dave thought as watched Shannon and Julia leave as he headed to the conference room.