Chapter 28

"We're going someplace fun for dinner tonight, right mommy?" Henry Jareau asked from the backseat of Dave's 's play opened the following night, and Dave, JJ, and Henry were on the way to her school to pick her up after her final dress rehearsal. They were going to surprise her by taking her out for dinner that night. To JJ's surprise and delight, it had been Dave's suggestion and not hers.

"We are Henry, I promise," she said as they pulled into the school parking lot. They were running a little late and she wasn't surprised to see the parking lot filled with kids from the play. What did surprise both her and Dave was the fact that Lucy was leaning into a car via a passenger window and talking to the driver. To Dave's knowledge, none of his daughter's friends could legally drive yet, so who was she talking to? The windows were tinted, so he couldn't see the driver, but there was no way he was going to ignore what he'd seen.

Lucy finally saw his car and gave them a deer in the headlights look before recovering her composure. She said goodbye to whomever she had been talking to and they drove away while she got into the backseat of her dad's SUV.

"Luceeeeeeee!" Henry yelled excitedly from his booster seat.

"Hey Henry," she greeted him with a hug. "This is a surprise," she said brightly, glad that she wasn't going to have to take the Metro home, but a bit startled that JJ and Henry were also there to pick her up.

"I thought it would be nice if we all went out for dinner tonight," her dad told her, clearing that mystery up for her. "It'll have to be somewhere kid friendly for Henry though."

"That's fine," she told her dad as she put her seatbelt on. "Hi JJ."

"Hi Lucy, how was school?"

"Meh," the teen shrugged. "It was school."

"Who were you talking to when we pulled up?" Dave asked as he navigated his way through the ever-present DC traffic.

"Just a friend. What about Mudgie, he's going to have to go out," Lucy said, trying to change the subject. Unfortunately for her, her father was a skilled interrogator and didn't fall for her tactic.

"I stopped at home to change this afternoon and I took him out then, he'll be fine. Do I know this friend you were talking to?"

"No; you don't know every single one of my friends," Lucy said, irritated.

JJ grinned in the front seat. "Oooooh, I bet it's a guy friend," she teased. "Tell me Lucy, is this friend of yours hot?"

Dave shot his girlfriend a dirty look. "It had better not be a guy," he said. "We've talked about this, Lucy; no dating until you're at least sixteen, and even then it'll be group dating for awhile."

"I know that!" the teen said loudly, once again hating her dad's protectiveness. She understood that he'd seen a lot of messed up things in his life, but did he constantly have to project his issues onto her? "You've made your rules about dating crystal clear, and it wasn't a guy friend, it was just a friend! God, would the two of you please back off?"

Both JJ and Dave were taken aback by her tone, but it was Dave who spoke. "You are coming dangerously close to crossing the line, Lucy," he said sternly as he glanced at her in the rear-view mirror. "I suggest you change your attitude before you cross it entirely."

"Sorry," Lucy mumbled with a huff as she slid down on her seat and pouted; did he really have to scold her like she was a five-year old, especially in front of Henry and JJ? As much as she liked that he was paying more attention to her, she wished he didn't have to be in her business all of the time. Did he really expect to know all of her friends? Did he have to be so nosy and pushy? She wanted to tell him to back off, but she was afraid if she did, he would go back to not paying any attention to her at all. What she really wanted to do was settle into her bad mood but, fortunately for everyone in the car, Henry's happy and incessant chatter drew her attention and she talked to him until they arrived at the restaurant.

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Five hours later, Lucy had just changed into her pajamas and gotten into bed when there was a knock at the door. "Come on in, dad," she called out in normal tone of voice; spending the evening at a kiddie restaurant had improved her mood and she was no longer irritated with her father.

"All set for bed, Peanut?" He asked as he came into the room. He sat down on the edge of her bed as she sat up and rested her back against the headboard.

The teen nodded. "Yup, Mr. Collins told all of us to get at least eight hours of sleep tonight."

"That's good advice," her dad agreed. "You know that whatever happens tomorrow night, I'm proud of you, right?"

Lucy nodded and said, with a conviction she didn't feel, "I know that," she said breezily.

"Do you really?" He pushed. "Because JJ told me the two of you had a conversation tonight."

"Oh my God! Can that woman EVER keep her mouth shut?" Lucy asked loudly, clearly angered by, what she perceived to be, another breach of confidence. Earlier that night, while Dave and Henry were playing skee-ball, Lucy had told JJ that she hoped her dad would be proud of her if she did well in the play. JJ had tried to tell her that her dad was always proud of her, but she hadn't believed it and had simply nodded and agreed with the older woman. She'd thought the conversation would stay between the two of them, but obviously she had been mistaken.

"Hey," Dave said, putting his hand up to try and stall her rant. "She didn't tell me anything specific, only that you wanted to make me proud by doing well in the play."

"Oh," the teen said, somewhat mollified by his explanation, but still a bit wary of confiding in JJ again.

"Peanut, you could miss every note in your songs and fall flat on your face tomorrow night and I would still be proud of you; I always am!"

"Yeah, right," she said sarcastically. "I've gotten into so much trouble at school that Father Jimmy once joked about getting me my own detention desk, my grades suck, and...and with everything that happened with mom, how you possibly be proud of me? I'm not proud of me!"

"Well you should be," Dave said firmly, "Because I sure as hell am! Okay, your grades aren't the best, but they're not horrible, and you're trying hard to bring them up-"

"How do you know that?" Lucy interrupted. He was right, she was working her ass off to improve her grades now that she could concentrate more on her schoolwork, but she hadn't exactly shared that tidbit of information with him. "Did Father Jimmy tell you that?" God help the holy man if he had, because they had an agreement that he would never talk to her dad about her academic work outside of a school setting.

"It's called parent-teacher conferences, Luce," he said dryly, "and I was one of the key players there."

"You went to a parent-teacher conference?"

Dave nodded, "Is that so hard to believe?"

"Yeah, it is," she responded. "Have you ever been to one before?"

"Well, no," he admitted. "But it was very informative. Do you know what every single one of your teachers said about you?" Lucy shook her head. "They said your school work had vastly improved, along with your attitude."

"Yeah, well, I want to go to a half-way decent college in a couple of years and I know I'll need the grades to get in."

Dave smiled, "And that's one of the many reasons why I'm so proud of you. Plus, other than the thing a few weeks ago, you haven't gotten into any trouble at school lately, and that is spectacular."

"Well, again, that has to do with the whole 'wanting to go to college' thing," Lucy told him.

"And maybe it's because you don't have to act out to get my attention anymore?" Her dad asked.

"Maybe," the teen conceded, blushing a little.

"As for everything that has happened with your mother? That is absolutely, 100% NOT your fault; you shouldn't be ashamed of what she did to you and that has no bearing, whatsoever, on my pride in you. Hell, if anything I'm proud of you for being the great person that you are in spite of your mother's abuse and my failings as a father."

"Whatever," she mumbled. "You're getting better."

"Thanks for that vote of confidence, Peanut," Dave said with a smile as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box. "I was going to wait until tomorrow night to give this to you, but maybe you could use it now."

"What is it?" She asked as she took the box from him.

"Open it," he directed and she did. In the box was a thin, gold chain with a pendant of the two masks that represent the theater; the tragedy and the comedy.

"It's beautiful," she said softly as she picked it up and ran her finger over the pendant.

"I don't know if you can get away with wearing it under your costume tomorrow night-"

"I can," she told him. "Thanks dad." She reached out to hug him which, truth be told, still felt a little weird, especially since they hadn't really been huggers since she was a little girl, but the moment felt right.

Dave was surprised by the show of affection from his daughter; usually he initiated the hugs and then she awkwardly responded to him, but this time she was the one holding out her arms to him. He gently folded her into an embrace. "You're welcome, honey; you deserve something to mark this occasion in your life." He reluctantly let her go and then studied her briefly. "Do you feel better about tomorrow?"

Lucy thought for a second and then shook her head. "Nope, I'm still nervous as hell."

"Wanna watch a movie? Maybe it'll take your mind off of your nerves," he suggested.

"No thanks, I think I'm going to try to sleep. Maybe I'll play some calming music to help me."

"Okay Peanut, goodnight, I love you," he said as he kissed her forehead.

"Love you too dad."

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The next night, Dave jumped to his feet in applause as the last note of the Les Miserables musical played. He noticed he wasn't the only one who was standing. No, the entire audience was applauding and cheering wildly, including JJ, Henry, and the entire BAU team.

"I had no idea she was so good," he told JJ in awe, still clapping as the entire cast took a group bow. "Not only did she sing well, but her acting was out of this world!" He knew most parents thought their kid was the best at everything, but in this case Dave didn't think he was exaggerating; his daughter really was that good!

JJ nodded her agreement. "She put a lot of emotion into her scenes; did I see you wiping away a tear during her character's death scene?"

"Hey, you try seeing your kid die on stage and not become emotional," he shot back. "Would you have remained dry-eyed if it had been Henry up there?"JJ didn't have a chance to answer because, at that moment, the cast members began taking their individual curtain calls."It looks like you're up, Agent Rossi," Garcia said with a smile. Having been to many professional plays in his life, Dave knew that most actresses receive flowers from their loved ones during their curtain call, so he had gotten Lucy a dozen roses. As he made his way to the stage, he was glad he had gotten them because he saw that many other parents had had the same idea and he would have felt like a schmuck if he'd been the only parent without flowers.

He waited while five cast members took their bows, and then it was his daughter's turn. He had to swallow a lump in his throat when he saw the beaming look of absolute joy on her face; it had been a long time, if ever, that he had seen her look so happy and carefree. As she took a second bow to almost deafening applause, he crossed the stage and met her in the middle.

"Dad!" She said in happy surprise. She was shocked when he handed her the bouquet of flowers; she didn't think he would know about the flower tradition and she'd steeled herself to be the only actress without them.

"You were wonderful, Peanut," he told her as he kissed her cheek. He pulled back and made his way off the stage so she could take her final bow and, as he did, he saw tears of happiness in her eyes.

Once the remaining cast members had been acknowledged, the audience filtered into the hallway outside of the auditorium. Since they all wanted to congratulate Lucy in person, the BAU team waited with Dave. "Is it me, or have high schools gotten smaller over the years?" Derek asked as he glanced around at the lockers. "Everything always seemed bigger to me."

"Or maybe it's because you've physically grown since you were eighteen," Reid suggested. "Did you know the average male doesn't reach his full height until-"

"Lucy!" Dave called out, interrupting Reid's monologue on the human growth process. "Over here!" He said loudly, waving to her. Lucy saw him, smiled, and began making her way to the group but, before she got halfway there, she was stopped by a shy looking boy. The group, which now included Father Jimmy, watched as the kid talked for a moment and then handed her a small bouquet of flowers. Then, Lucy smiled, said something to the boy and he hugged her.

"Awwww," Garcia said as everyone else eyed Dave nervously.

"What. The. Hell. Was. That?" He asked through clenched teeth as he glared at the teen from across the hallway. "He touched her; that little punk touched my daughter."

"Dave, you need to relax," Hotch told him, silently thanking the heavens that he had a son.

"I'm pretty sure that's not going to happen, Aaron," the older man snarled quietly.

"Oh pooh, Agent Rossi," Garcia said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "It's not like he threw her down on the ground and ravished her right in front of everyone. He-" Garcia stopped midsentence when she saw the effect her words were having on the senior profiler; his face had turned an unnatural shade of red and his eyes looked like they were going to pop out of their sockets. Thankfully for the technical analyst, Derek pulled her closer to him as JJ stepped into the fray.

"You need to calm down, Dave; you don't want to ruin this night for your daughter by making a scene," she reminded him as she rubbed his back in order to soothe him, like she would Henry.

"I'm not going to make a scene, JJ," he told her in a deceptively calm voice. "I'm just going to go over there and have a nice chat with him."

Father Jimmy snorted loudly. "No you're not; I refuse to allow any acts of violence to occur on school grounds."

Dave whirled around and faced the holy man. "And what the hell do you know about this, Jimmy? Are they seeing each other during school hours? Do they eat lunch together? Do they-"

"I'm going to stop you right there, old man," the priest told his best friend. "First, you know I have an agreement with Lucy not to talk to you about anything school related."

"But we're on school grounds, so *technically*-" But the priest continued as if Dave hadn't interrupted him.

"And second, I try not to know about the romantic involvements of my students; that's what teachers, counselors, and the school nurse are for."

"Then what am I paying tuition-" Dave's tirade was cut off by a cheery greeting.

"I can't believe you all came!" Lucy said happily as she joined the group. Everyone praised her performance and the teen blushed, not quite sure how to take the almost overwhelming praise. After everyone was done, she approached her father, who had been very quiet since she arrived. "Thank you for the beautiful flowers," she said as she stood on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek.

At that moment, Dave decided to put what he'd seen between her and the boy into a box in his head. JJ was right, he didn't want to ruin this night for Lucy; she deserved to be happy. "You were wonderful up there, Peanut," he said as he gave her a hug. "You had me in tears more than once."

"Really?"

"Really," he nodded and then looked around the crowded hallway. "How about we move this to someplace less crowded. We could all grab some dessert; my treat," he suggested.

Derek grinned. "If' Rossi's buying, I'm in." Everyone else agreed and they moved to leave.

"Ooooh, can we go to Nielsen's?" Lucy asked excitedly. Nielsen's had the best ice cream in the world and Lucy went there every time she had the chance.

Dave nodded affirmatively and then remembered the conversation from the previous day's car ride."You can even invite your friends if you want." He wanted to get to know her friends better so he knew who she was spending time with.

Lucy pulled out her phone and began texting her friends. As she did, she thought back to when she first got the part in the play. Back then, she had hoped that her dad might show up to one of her performances, if she was lucky, but instead she had him, Henry, and the BAU team on opening night. At that moment, her life was almost perfect.