Again, I'm not a legal expert. Suspend your disbelief if it seems off, or correct me if I have a glaring error. ^^ Thanks. I'll be trying to slow down my posting a little bit so it won't be such a huge change when I run out of drafts and have to write new chapters from scratch... if I'm taking more time then I'll probably have more motivation to write new ones.

Warning: Barely touches on anything disturbing; teddy can probably take a break.

Setting: Starts about where we left off, Hotch's point of view. After the break, we go back in time to Reid riding to Rossi's with Garcia.

Surviving 18: Dinner At Rossi's

Once Jack had settled into the impromptu party with Reid and Henry, I made my way over to Morgan.

"I have to try to set up a meeting for tomorrow morning," I told him. "Heathbridge's lawyer is trying to work out a plea bargain."

"What's Cook have to say about that?" Morgan asked.

"He's leaving it up to me whether we accept, negotiate or decline."

"What are the terms?"

"Nothing we can accept, so I want to see Heathbridge in person to see if it's worth negotiating. I hope it won't take all morning, but, in the meantime, I'll have Dave supervise Reid's debriefing."

"Okay. Want me to let him know?"

I shook my head. "I'll tell him."

We parted and I went back toward Rossi.

"Just in time to eat, as I predicted," he said, handing me a plate.

"Thanks," I said, smiling. "Listen, I got an email from Cook. I'm going to try calling Heathbridge's lawyer—tonight if I can—to set up a meeting tomorrow to see if it's worth negotiating a plea bargain."

"He won't have a leg to stand on if he pleads not-guilty."

"I know, but I don't think he cares about that. There's only one reason he wants to live right now."

"He's hoping to see Reid again?"

I nodded. "Either in court or in lockup."

"Well, we can't bargain with that."

"No, but we may be able to get him arraigned here first rather than Maryland if I can figure out another angle. And it would be good if he identified the John Doe's."

"If you think it's worth trying."

"If I do go tomorrow, I'll need you to observe Reid's interview with Morgan until I get back. Think you can handle it?"

"Long as I keep in mind that that scumbag will never get a chance to touch him again, yeah. I think I can handle it."

Garcia came up to us then with a rather judgmental look on her face. "Excuse me, but could you two look a little less serious, please? We're trying to cheer Reid up."

I looked over her shoulder at Reid, who was making a quarter disappear for Jack and Henry. "He seems fine."

"Sure, because he's not looking in this direction. You might as well have rain clouds over your heads! Are you talking about work?"

Rossi put his hands up in appeasement. "Okay, okay. We're done. All jocularity from here on out."

"Well, good." She went back to her place at the table and stabbed aggressively at some pasta on her plate.

I smiled a little.

"She's got a good heart," Rossi commented.

"Yes, she does."

I moved to the sitting area where Reid was in complete command of his audience's attention.

"How'd you do it?" Henry demanded.

"I can't tell you that!" Reid exclaimed in a scandalized tone.

"Come on," Jack wheedled. "Show us how."

"I can't. I can only show other magicians. And even then, only magicians I trust."

The boys looked disappointed. After a moment, Henry declared, "I wanna be a magician. Can you teach me?"

"Hm. Well… are you smart?"

"Yes!"

"Are you good at keeping secrets?"

"Yes!"

"Are you over the age of eighteen?"

Henry opened his mouth to answer and then stopped.

Jack giggled. "No! We're not teenagers."

Reid crossed his arms stubbornly. "Well, I'm sorry, I just can't teach you to be a magician. But you know what you can do to practice while you wait to be old enough?"

"What?" they asked eagerly.

"Learn to shuffle cards. All magicians have to learn card tricks, and to be able to do them right you need to be able to shuffle."

"That's hard," said Henry.

"Believe me, I know. I used to shuffle cards for half an hour every day when I was in college."

The boys' eyes got wide.

"And most serious magicians practice more than that. They practice so much, they wear their cards out! They have to get a new deck every day. Two or three sometimes!"

"Whoa!"

"Sounds like you have your work cut out for you," I interrupted. "Have you eaten anything yet?"

Jack picked up his plate from the coffee table. "A little. I'll finish it now."

"Don't eat too fast."

I ate most of my dinner and then slipped away to make my phone call. Soon, I got an answer.

"Farrow," said a man's voice.

"Mister Farrow, I hope I'm not disturbing you. This is agent Aaron Hotchner of the BAU."

"Yes… not at all. I was hoping to hear from you. I take it agent Cook told you about my client's proposal."

"He did. Frankly, we can't agree to the deal Heathbridge suggested, but I'm still willing to meet with him to see if we can reach a compromise."

"I think that might be in his best interest. Given your team's understandable enmity toward him and your considerable experience as a prosecutor, I've encouraged him to listen to whatever you might offer him."

"That seems wise to me. When should I come?"

"Is nine o'clock too early? I want to set things in motion as soon as possible."

"That should be fine. If I'm delayed, I'll call you."

Farrow agreed. We settled the details and he bade me a good evening.

I put my phone in my pocket and turned to go back inside. JJ was standing a few feet from me with a plate in her hands.

"Cookie?" she asked, holding out the plate.

I studied her face a moment, wondering if she had overheard any of the conversation. She didn't look guilty, so I surmised that if she had, it had been unintentional. I shrugged with my eyebrows and took a chocolate chip cookie off the plate.

"It never stops, huh?"

"The profiling?"

"I meant the work… that was about Reid, wasn't it?"

"It was about Heathbridge. Don't say anything to Reid about it, but I'm going to see him tomorrow."

"I won't." She sighed. "Much as I hate the guy, I also like having you as a boss, so don't kill him, okay?"

"I won't." I swallowed a bite of cookie and examined what was left in the light from a window behind us. "Did he make these himself, too?"

"I think so, but between you and me…" JJ leaned a little closer to me. "I think they're Toll House. We make them with Henry now and then."

"Hey, shortcuts in cooking are victimless crimes."

"Don't say that to Rossi."

We chuckled and went back inside together.

.

Garcia was a cautious driver, and I didn't blame her. Traffic was ridiculous. I hated driving in the DC area, especially at rush hour, which was one of the reasons I usually found other transportation.

"I know we keep telling you, and I'm sorry if it's getting old, but I am so, so glad you're back. Here with me now." She gave me a shadowed smile that told me plainly how worried she was that she might be stirring up painful memories for me.

"It's okay," I said. "I'm really glad to be back. Thanks for offering to drive me, by the way."

"No problem! I get you all to myself. For as long as this… idiotic traffic continues to block our way. You know what this reminds me of?"

"I have no idea, but I can't wait for you to tell me."

"That Doctor Who episode with the motorway… New-New York."

"'Gridlock,'" I supplied.

"Yes! 'Gridlock!' With Brannigan!"

I couldn't help smiling. "Should I hop out and try to get in someone else's car?"

"Oh, god, no—someone might shoot you. But that would be so hilarious! If you did it, I mean. Not someone shooting you."

I was grinning now. "I know what you meant." I sighed contentedly. "I missed you. More than I can tell you."

"Me too." She reached toward me and then pulled her hand back. "Is it okay to hold your hand?"

I held my hand out and she took it. "It's definitely okay," I said, looking out at the traffic ahead of us. She was right… though we were moving, it wasn't much better than the "Gridlock" situation. "We don't normally leave at five."

"Oh, I know! I thought traffic was bad at six. But five-fifteen, five-thirty? Way worse. I'm gonna take a side road or two. The GPS will yell at us, but that's okay. Oh, you know what's fun? Hang on…" She took advantage of our having to stop for a minute and started selecting settings on her GPS. "Here we go."

The unmistakable voice of a dalek squawked, "Turn right in four hundred yards!"

I started shaking with laughter. "Nice!"

"It gets even better. If you miss a turn, or don't stop when it tells you to, it starts saying you'll be exterminated."

"Oh my gosh… that's great."

I felt much more relaxed by the time we got to Rossi's. It was good to see Will and Henry again so soon, too. Before long, Hotch brought Jack in, and the boys wasted little time asking me for magic tricks.

I knew everyone was making an effort to help me feel at home—and to avoid talking about my abduction—and it meant a lot to me. But after dark, I started to feel that we should be getting home and to bed because there would be a lot to do tomorrow. And since I was the unofficial theme of the party, I should be the one to signal that it had served its purpose. Henry was looking sleepy, anyway.

"Well… we should probably go soon," I said to Hotch. "Get Jack to bed."

He nodded.

"Listen, guys…" I looked around at all of them. "I really appreciate you all spending time with me. I'm feeling a lot better, and I'm looking forward to working with you again. I'm not sure when that will be... but soon, I hope."

Morgan patted my shoulder.

"I'm glad you could come," Rossi said. "I'll walk out with you."

I got a few hugs and handshakes and then Hotch, Jack, Rossi and I headed outside.

"If you don't mind, Reid," Rossi said, "I'd like to give you what I didn't give you this morning… would that be all right?"

I had forgotten all about the gift Rossi had mentioned. "Okay," I said.

He reached into his jacket, pulled out what looked like a glossy brochure and handed it to me. Inside was a plastic card.

"It's a season pass to the air and space museum," I said.

"I know how much you like it and I thought it would help pick you up on bad days."

"Yeah. Thank you. This is great."

"You're welcome, kiddo." Rossi hugged me briefly. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Okay. Good night."

"Bye, agent Rossi," Jack said.

"See you later, Jack," he answered. He shook hands with him and Hotch and waved us off.

As we were rolling out of the driveway, Jack said, "There was dessert."

Hotch laughed. "Yes, there was."

Another light little bit to end on before we get back to creepier material. Let me know what you think.