Peace, Love and War-Chapter 2

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There was total silence in the room as Dave absorbed this second shock. Mark had left him his kids? Why in the hell would he do that, he knew nothing about kids! Hell, he'd only seen Mark's girls a few times in their lives. As his brain struggled to process this new information, Lt. Carter spoke up.

"I take it Major Smith never discussed this with you?"

Dave nailed him with a glare. "Does it look like I knew about this, Lieutenant? No, he never said a goddamn word! Why me? What about his family? Other friends?" It wasn't that Dave didn't want the girls, he just wasn't sure he could do it. Up until a few moments ago, his biggest decision was whether to stay at Emily's place for the weekend or his and now he was going to be a father? And not only that, he was going to be a father to two girls he hardly knew? He could barely remember to keep his dog fed, for Christ's sake, and now he was going to be responsible for two living, breathing human beings? It boggled his mind and he probably would have stated hyperventilating if Emily hadn't given his hand another squeeze. Just knowing she was there had an instant calming effect on him and he relaxed enough to listen to the lieutenant's answers.

"Major Smith had no living relatives sir, and most of his other friends were in his military unit. He was very specific in his will when he said that Hannah and Emma should go to you."

"What happens if they don't? What would happen to them if I didn't take them in?" Dave asked, not because he didn't want them, but because he was so overwhelmed at the prospect of becoming a father that he needed to know there were other options available to him.

"They would be placed in foster care, Agent Rossi," the woman next to Lt. Carter said before introducing herself. "I'm Marcia Jones and I'm with the Monroe County social services. Because Ft. McCoy is mainly a training base, they aren't exactly set up to deal with children so they called me for assistance. Since there are no living relatives and no one else was designated a guardian, the children would go into the foster care system. Emma, who's six, would have a decent chance of eventually being adopted but Hannah, who is almost fifteen, would most likely be placed in a group home until she turns 18."

Dave shook his head; there was no WAY he would let Mark's girls live that kind of life, but was he really the best person for the parenting job? He supposed he would find out. "Where are the girls now?"

"Well sir, that's the problem," Lt. Carter said. "We can't find them."

"What do you mean you can't find them? How long have they been missing?" Rossi asked loudly. "Mark died four months ago, have they been gone for that long?"

The lieutenant nodded his head. "Sir, may I speak freely?" He asked and Dave nodded. "You know these black ops guys, they are very paranoid and they're a thousand times worse when it comes to their families. As soon as we learned about Major Smith's death, we sent a notification team to their house, where they were living with a nanny. Per regulations, I was dispatched two hours later to assist with the various tasks that go along with a death and I was going to find out if the nanny was planning on keeping the girls or if she was planning on letting them go. When I got to the house, it was deserted."

"Where did they go?" Dave asked.

"I have no idea sir. I never got the nanny's name and my guess is that Major Smith was paying her in cash since there was no record of any checks or bank transfers made to anyone fitting the description of a nanny. I am also going to hazard a guess that Major Smith probably had a few safe houses set up and that he instructed the girls to hideout at one if something like this were to ever happen," Lieutenant Carter continued. "It took us awhile to work through the red tape just to find out which company he was attached to and his CO finally gave us a safe word so once we find the children, we can give it to them and they'll know we're not a part of some sinister operation."

"I knew Mark was paranoid, but this is crazy! Wait, are you sure Mark's really gone?" Dave asked as a little bit of the paranoia seeped into his psyche. "What if he was right? What if-"

"Agent Rossi, Major Smith was in a small building that was hit by numerous remote rockets. While his body was never recovered, it is only because the building was incinerated pretty much instantaneously. All of the Intel and satellite images confirm his and seven of his men's deaths."

"Alright," Rossi said, resigned to the fact that one of his closest friends had died overseas. "What can I do to help find the girls?"

"Do you know where Major Smith may have had any of his safe houses?" The social worker asked.

Dave shook his head, "No clue; if he had any, he kept them a secret from me." The room got quiet after that until Emily spoke up a minute later.

"What about Garcia? If anyone can find them, it's her."

"With all due respect ma'am, we've had our best people searching for these girls for the past four months. I doubt this 'Garcia' person will be able to do better than the US military," Lt Carter said.

"None taken Lieutenant, but trust me, Garcia can find anyone." As she spoke, Emily stood up, dialed her cell phone and was quickly connected to the quirky technical analyst.

"Why Miss Emily Prentiss," Garcia greeted in a heavy southern accent. "As I live and breathe! What can I do for you on this glorious day?"

"Are you still in your office?" Emily asked.

"I am," Penelope confirmed. "Unfortunately one of my babies decided to get sick just as I was leaving for the day. Now I'll probably be here until late tonight."

"Thank God," Emily said. "Look PG, I'm going to send Anderson down with two people and we need you to find the two girls they are looking for as quickly as possible. The entire military has been searching for them for months and have come up with nothing, so you'll really have to work your magic, okay?"

"Pfft, the military," Garcia scoffed, "I could teach the military a thing or two. Trust me Emily, I'll find who they're looking for in two shakes of a lamb's tail." With that, Emily disconnected the call, opened the office door and waved to Anderson in the bullpen. Once the junior agent got to Dave's office, Emily instructed him to take their two guests down to Garcia's lair and they all left, leaving her alone with Dave.

"How are you doing?" She asked softly from her position by the door.

"Well let's see; in the last fifteen minutes I learned that one of my close friends is dead and that, at the ripe old age of 54, I'm going to be a father to two girls…you know, if we can find them." Emily heard the touch of hysteria in his voice and she quickly moved towards him.

"You can do this Dave," she said as she gripped his hand and gently pulled him from his chair. She led him towards the small sofa at the back of his office and they both sat down next to each other.

"I really don't think I can, Em," he told her. "What in the hell do I know about being a father? What do I know about raising GIRLS?"

"Kids don't come with instruction manuals, Rossi; most parents figure it out as they go along. At least these kids will be old enough to verbalize their wants and needs and, bonus, you won't have to go through the terrible twos with them and they'll be potty trained."

"But seriously, I'm an alcohol swilling, cigar smoking, solitary bachelor! I can't be responsible for two living, breathing human beings. What if I screw up? What if something happens to them? How will I deal with-"

"You need to breathe Dave," Emily told him as she heard the hysteria build in his voice. "You're all these girls have in the world, do you really want them to end up in foster care? Especially knowing what we know about the system?"

That took some of the wind out of his sails and he exhaled deeply. "No, of course I don't want to see them get put in the system…I'm just not sure that I'm the right one for the job."

"You're the only one for the job," she reiterated, "And you'll be great at it. Besides, you'll have the entire team helping you through it, so it's not like you're going to be totally alone. Do you really think Penelope Garcia will be able to stay away? She'll be in heaven! She'll have two live Barbie dolls to dress up."

"Hell no! That woman is not coming anywhere near those two girls with any of her clothes, hair dyes or cosmetics, understood?" He said firmly.

Emily grinned and was about to reply back when her cell phone rang. "Prentiss."

Garcia's chirpy voice came over the line, "I found them, Peaches."