Chapter 21

Within no time they were pulling into Dave's driveway. Kahlan whistled. "Damn. I think Dave's a little house poor."

"And that's why we always throw our parties here," he told her as he opened her door.

Rossi had the door open before they could even ring the bell. His eyes showed his surprise at seeing Kahlan with Hotch.

"Hey, Dave," she told him as she gave him a kiss on the cheek, and handed him a bottle of Glenmorangie, 18 Year Old, Scotch. "Chris says 'hello,'" she told him with a smile.

Rossi inspected the bottle. "Damn. I knew she had good taste," Rossi told her implying about himself and the scotch. "This is pretty rare. You two want to join me in trying it?" he asked as he walked into his house with them following.

Hotch shut the door behind them. "Sure," he told him as they followed Rossi into his den.

Rossi took out three tumblers, put a few ice cubes in them, and poured them each two fingers worth of the amber liquid. He passed them out.

Kahlan took hers with a scrunched up face. "What's this shit take like?"

Rossi was shocked. "You've never tried scotch?"

She laughed. "No. Other than beer and a few cocktails, the only other thing I've tried is a little wine here and there."

"Well, you're in for a treat then," he said with a smile and took a sip. "Mmmmm. That's nice."

Hotch took a sip of his and nodded his agreement.

Kahlan looked into her glass, glanced at Rossi, and then tentatively took a drink. She coughed as it burned its way all the way down her throat. "Oh yeah, that's smooth," she said sarcastically as Rossi and Hotch laughed at her.

"You're not supposed to drink it," Hotch told her still laughing.

"What I am supposed to do with it, snort it?" she asked as she took a couple deep breaths.

"You're supposed to sip it," Dave told her with a smile.

She handed the tumbler back to Rossi. "I think I'll just take a beer if you got one."

He laughed again and went to the kitchen. He brought her back a Corona Light.

"Now there's something I can drink," she told him with a smile.

Rossi just shook his head at her. "So what brings you back to Virginia so soon?"

"I promised Aaron I would answer his questions, and he figured you might have a few questions, too."

He smiled. "Well then, by all means, make yourselves comfortable," he told them as he gestured to the chairs.

"You both need to realize there are some things I cannot divulge, but I will try to answer all of your questions truthfully."

"You answered them all of them truthfully before, but you answered them in a way that didn't reveal anything," Rossi pointed out with raised brows.

"Ok. I will try to answer them fully."

"You're going to make us actually ask you questions?" Hotch asked as he gave her a strange look.

"You really didn't think I was going to make this easy on you, did you?"

Rossi laughed at the feigned hurt look on Hotch's face.

"You think that's funny?" Hotch asked him. Rossi nodded as he laughed a little more. "Fine, you go first."

That stopped him. "Fine." He studied Kahlan who was smiling at them both. "Alright. You said no agency's name has ever been on one of your paychecks." She nodded. "Whose name was?"

Kahlan noticed Hotch's look of approval for the question. She smiled. "That changed every so often, so there isn't just one answer." Rossi was about to protest so she continued. "But the DIC has always been the person to sign my checks.

"The DIC? You mean the DNI?" Hotch asked her, clearly surprised.

"He was still just the Director of Central Intelligence by the time I was out, but yeah, you would now call him the Director of National Intelligence."

"But you said you weren't in any agency," Hotch pointed out.

"I wasn't. The DIC was in charge of it all, not just the CIA."

Rossi studied her for a moment. "When did you receive your first paycheck?"

"In 1992. Gates was the DIC for about a year when I started."

"So you worked for the director?"

She shrugged. "Potato, Patato. I was never really sure if he actually knew about us, or if he just signed the paychecks."

"Us?" Rossi asked.

"Yeah. There were four to six of us at different times."

"And what did you all do?" Hotch asked her as he took another sip of his scotch.

"Now, see, that's where it gets a little sticky. I can't give you specifics, but I can tell you we did whatever needed to be done at the time."

"And does this little group of yours have a name?" Rossi asked.

She smiled. "Have you ever heard of the Omega Squad?"

Rossi's face deadpanned.

"What? Who are they?" Hotch asked frantically when he saw Rossi's reaction. He had thought he had heard the name once but he couldn't recall where.

Rossi studied her for another moment, clearly trying to figure out if she was telling the truth or not.

"What? You're the one who asked," Kahlan said with a chuckle.

"What's the Omega Squad?" Hotch asked again looking back and forth between Rossi and Kahlan. He did not like the feeling he was getting.

Rossi took a deep breath and finally looked away from Kahlan to Hotch. "The Omega Squad is the urban legend of the intelligence community."

"Urban legend?" Hotch asked, not liking where the conversation was going.

"They've always been talked about, but there was never any proof that they actually existed," Rossi explained.

"It was never an official name. People also referred to us as the Ghost Squad and the AA," she told them with another chuckle.

"AA?" Hotch asked knowing there was no way she was referring to Alcoholics Anonymous.

"Alpha Agents," Rossi told him.

Kahlan looked at Rossi, impressed that he knew so much.

"They are the elite of the elite," Rossi told Hotch.

Hotch slowly looked at Kahlan. He had known there was something in her past, but something like that was just too much. He turned to Rossi. "And what does this group of people do?"

"Anything. Everything. It was rumored that they were the ones to finally get Bin Laden."

"That was not me!" she insisted. "I was out before that," she told them defensively. Both men knew that they had touched on a nerve.

Hotch decided to try a different line of questions. "You said that that FBI badge was real. How is that possible?"

She settled down and took a drink of her beer. "Because we worked for the DIC. I actually have a real badge for every agency under his command, using aliases, of course."

"Every agency?" Rossi asked.

"The whole damn alphabet."

"So you have been out of the country."

"Under different aliases, yes."

"And what kind of jobs have you performed personally?" Hotch asked her with narrowed eyes.

"See, that was the question I was worried you would ask." She took a drink of her beer and looked to Rossi for help. He just shrugged. She looked at Hotch who was waiting patiently. She shook her head and finished off her beer. "Everything I did, I did to follow orders," she started.

"You need another beer?" Rossi asked with a smile.

"Please," she told him with a smile that also thanked him for rescuing her for a moment.

Hotch could just imagine the things she had done. He had already deduced some of them, but he wanted her to tell him. He needed her to be honest with him, so he took a sip of his scotch and patiently waited for Rossi to return.

Rossi handed her the beer as he gave her a small smile. Then he gave Hotch and himself a refill and took his seat.

She nodded her thanks, took a drink, and just looked at the floor. "I have performed surveillance, I have tracked people down, I've kidnapped people, I've blown things up, I've worked protection." She paused to take another drink, but she wouldn't look at either of them. "And yes, I have been an assassin."

Hotch sent Rossi a look, but reached over and took Kahlan's hand.

She looked up at him. "It's not something I am proud of, but I did what I thought needed to be done to help greater good. Can you understand that?"

"I've never thought you a malicious person, Kahlan," he told her honestly.

"Why did you quit?" Rossi asked.

She let go of Hotch's hand and sat up. "Let me just say that I didn't like being ignored." At Rossi's look, she knew she would have to explain further. "We warned them about Al' Qaida. They wouldn't listen, and after 9-11, I couldn't stomach it anymore."

"I can believe that," Rossi told her seriously and tipped his glass to her.

"So have you ever had any backlash from it?" Hotch asked her in a tone that told her that was what he was worried about.

"Never. Kahlan Williams ceased to exist when I was recruited, and she didn't turn back up until I left and went to South Dakota."

Hotch couldn't help but think about Prentiss and her problems with Ian Doyle. "Is there anyone out there that would come after you?"

She studied him for a moment. "Are you asking me if I think it's safe for you and your son to know me?"

He nodded. "You can't blame me for asking."

Kahlan could tell Rossi also wanted to know the answer. She couldn't blame them, though; she knew how much they loved Jack. "While I can't guarantee that it would never happen, I have never had a reason to think it would. If I had thought it was dangerous, I would never have had a child of my own." She looked at them both. "Your job is probably more dangerous than my past."

Ouch! Hotch thought, but he knew the truth of that sting.

She smiled at him. "Maybe with someone like me around him, he'll be more protected than he is now."

Touché! Rossi thought with a smile. He might even feel sorry for any unsub who tried to target Jack with Kahlan around.

Hotch smiled at her, too. "I can believe that."

She took another drink and smiled at them, apparently satisfied with the conversation. "Anything else you want to know?"

"Just one," Rossi told her.

She held her breath because she had no idea what he was about to ask her.

He fixed her with a look. "When are you moving?"

They all laughed.