Dave is back and now has to rectify his mistakes before it's too late. First up: Derek Morgan.
A Christmas Carol: Dave Rossi Style
"Em!" The cry filled the silent room as Dave sat straight up in bed and looked around. Putting his hand on his heart, he tried to calm himself down! He had to save Em! Where was Em? He pushed the covers off his legs. Then he realized that he was in his bedroom. He was back in his bed in his home.
It was all a bad dream, he chanted to himself. Taking a deep breath, he tried to calm down, but the memory was still too fresh. He had seen Em's grave and he had talked with Emma and Ray and Zoe. There had to be an explanation for it, right?
Looking around at the still darkened room, he saw that stars on the black horizon. What day was it? He reached for the clock and peered at it: 0530 on December 23rd! He hadn't missed anything. There was still time to change everything and to save Em.
Jumping out of the California King Sized bed, Dave hurried to throw on his clothes. Looking at his reflection in the full sized mirror, he grimaced that he looked like hell. But there would be time to rectify that - after he resolved a few issues.
Mudgie greeted him enthusiastically as he descended the stairs to the living room.
"Hey, boy." Dave lovingly rubbed the black Lab's head. "It's good to see you." Mudgie barked happily and danced around. "I know. I owe you a lot, but there are some things I have to do first. Let me get everything cleared up and fixed, and I'll get you a steak for Christmas. Is it a deal?"
Mudgie's happy barks filled the empty room. His "pet" was back and he was happy - although he would never turn his nose up to a steak.
Dave gathered his keys and wallet on the table in the foyer. "Be a good dog." He closed the door behind him.
******
Derek Morgan was beyond pissed! In the middle of a great dream that involved him, a sun kissed beach and a bunch of women clad in skimpy bikinis playing volleyball. It would be his luck that the moment one of the beach bunnies lost her top while spiking the ball, it would be interrupted by a pounding on the door.
Pushing himself out of the bed, he blindly reached for his robe. Donning it, he tied the belt and tried to run out of the room and in the process, he stubbed his toe. Biting off an expletive, he hobbled to the front door.
"When I open this, I better see one of two people on the other side: Santa or my Baby Girl," he called out while turning the deadbolt. Throwing the door open, he stopped cold. "Wrong on both accounts."
"Hello, Derek."
Derek fought the urge to swing. Instead, he balled his fists and counted to ten. Maybe if he counted to ten and wished hard enough, Dave Rossi would fade away and it would just be a blip in the middle of his wonderful dream.
Ten! Nope, the son of a bitch was still on his porch. And to add insult to injury, he had a Cheshire cat grin, too!
"I knew I'd been bad enough this year to warrant coal in my stocking, but I must have been worse than I thought if I get you on my doorstep," Derek said sarcastically.
"I deserve that," Dave agreed with a nod. He noticed the balled up fists. "And I wouldn't blame you if you decided to take a swing. But I want you to hear me out."
Derek stood in the door way and crossed his arms defiantly. "Consider this your Christmas gift from me."
"Are you packed?"
"Am I what?" Derek blinked in surprise.
"Do you have a go bag ready to depart at the last minute?" Dave asked in a rush.
Derek scoffed. "Of course I have a bag; I work for the BAU…"
"Good," Dave interrupted. "Can you be ready to leave for Reagan in twenty?"
Derek held up his hand. "I'm not sure where this is going, and I'm not sure I want to know. Now I want you to leave."
"Just answer the question, Derek."
"Yes. I can be ready to leave in twenty. Did Swann's team get a last minute case?"
Dave shook his head. "No." He reached into his jacket and pulled out an envelope. "You're going to Chicago to spend the holidays with your family." He handed it over to the befuddled man.
Derek took the envelope and stared at it. "Do you want me to guess what this is?"
"You could, but then you would be late arriving for your flight." Dave watched as Derek removed the plane tickets. "Those are two first class tickets to Chicago. And that packet is your reservation at the Hilton - complete with room service and a car at your disposal."
Derek eyed the older agent warily. He wasn't a profiler for nothing and this whole moment not only had his feelers up, but his senses were on over load.
"There are two tickets here…" He held up the tickets imprinted with the carrier's logo.
"You're taking Penelope with you," Dave finished.
"I'm not following you, Rossi. Two days ago, you were a first class asshole that anyone of us would have loved to empty a clip or two in to. Now," he paused as he turned the tickets over in his hands, "you stand on my porch, two days before Christmas bearing gifts that are supposed to what? Mend things? Make everything you did go away?" Derek snorted.
"I think that it would take more than that to right the wrongs I've done. I want this to be the first step toward something new between us." He looked at his watch and frowned. "But unless you want to stand here all day arguing why I'm doing this, I would suggest getting changed and running out the door before you leave Penelope stranded at the airport. You don't want to do that."
"Wait! Did you say that my Baby Girl is at the airport?"
"She is. It took some persuading, but once I threw in a new Apple I-Pod, she helped change the tickets I had from Hawai'i to Chicago and book the room."
"Are you telling me that you managed to worm your way back into Pen's heart with an electronic device?" Derek shook his head. No more of Pen's secret recipe eggnog handed down from generation to generation; the after effects were causing him to hallucinate.
Dave shoved his hands in his jacket pocket and shifted his weight. "Not exactly. If I remember correctly, there are twelve days of Christmas."
Derek smirked. "That's my girl. Maybe I should hold out for more."
"You could," Dave mused. "but then you'll miss being there for your mother's operation."
"Pen told you about that?" he asked defensively.
"No, she didn't."
"You profiled me! How else…?"
"Derek, go get ready and get on the damn plane, okay? Be there for your mother and celebrate Christmas." He turned to walk away. "One more thing: let the doctors know that there might be a problem with your mother's heart that they need to look at before they put her under general anesthesia."
He froze. "Thanks, I'll remember that."
Concealing a satisfied smile, Dave walked down the short path to his truck. He waited for Derek to go back inside and close the door. Then he started the engine.
"Two down…six to go." He started the engine and drove toward the breaking dawn. There was still a lot he had to do to mend the bridges he'd burned and there was only a short window of opportunity to get it right.
And he still hadn't figured on how to win Em back before Christmas morning. It could all blow up in his face, but what the hell, it was the season for miracles.
He just hoped he had enough chips to cash in for the mother of all miracles.