Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds. I don't own Criminal Minds. The occasional scenes from episodes of Criminal Minds in this story belong to the writers of Criminal Minds and CBS. No copyright infringement intended
A/N: Shout out to Fashionista7, criminalmindsrocks, Fishtrek, Daisyangel for reviewing chapter 32.
Even though this chapter deals with About Face, I included a bit of a scene from the ending of Hero Worship because of deciding that I would be having Spencer continue on playing the last chess game he saw started on the chessboard in Gideon's cabin at the time of Gideon's death in this universe.
Chief Strauss looked at David Rossi who decided to come out of retirement, "You'll be meeting the team tomorrow."
Rossi laid his eyes on a picture of a young man with curly brown hair and brown eyes and was wearing blue jeans, a green, and black plaid flannel shirt, and black converse sneakers had a baby girl who had curly red hair and eyes that were turning into the shade of brown like her father's eyes sitting on his lap. Then he noticed a pre-teen girl who had the same brown eyes as the man while her matching shade of brown hair was pulled into two French braids resting her head on the man's shoulder. On the other side of the man, he saw a woman with blue eyes and auburn hair with a baby boy was the same age as his twin sister while he had brown curly hair and eyes that were turning into the shade of brown has his father's eyes sitting on his mother's lap.
Strauss noticed Rossi looking at the photo of her nephew and his family and gave Rossi a soft smile, "That's my 26-year-old nephew Dr. Spencer Reid, his wife Dr. Maeve Donovan-Reid, my great-niece and great-nephew Violet and Arthur who will both be turning six-months-old on the 4th, and the preteen girl is Spencer's 12-year-old half-sister Stephanie. Stephanie has been living with them for over four months now."
Rossi's eyes went wide as he thought about the phone call he had from Gideon almost five years ago while thinking about the youngest profiler in the F.B.I. being half his age, "Isn't your nephew also the genius that Jason discovered at Cal-tech and insisted on being his protégé?" asked Rossi.
"Yes," said Chief Strauss.
"How has he been doing since Jason's death?" asked Rossi.
"He was devastated when he found Jason's body while his wife told me that he has been dealing with nightmares thanks to his eidetic memory, but over the past month he has been slowly returning to his old self even though he refuses to play a game of chess with anyone ever since he discovered Jason's body," said Chief Strauss before looking at Rossi, "I'm getting tired of watching my nephew replaying the last game of chess that Jason had going on at his cabin by himself, so do you think that you can play a game with him sometime?" asked Chief Strauss.
Rossi thought about how hard it was going to get to know someone who would have been a few years younger than his son if James survived into adulthood, "Even though Dr. Reid might remind me of how James could have turned out since he ended up following your footsteps and became an F.B.I. agent, I'll think about it."
"Thank you," said Chief Strauss before giving Rossi a firm look, "but if you ever hurt my nephew, you can think about retiring again."
The next morning Stephanie looked at her brother who has been jittery with excitement ever since coming home from work the day before and announced that David Rossi was coming out of retirement and rejoin the B.A.U., "Are you excited about getting to meet David Rossi today, Spencer?" asked Stephanie.
Spencer nodded, "I have read all of his books."
"Me too, but I prefer to leave profiling to you," said Maeve.
Stephanie thought about her brother putting all the books that aren't appropriate for her in his office and some of those books were written by David Rossi, "When are you going to allow me to read those books?" asked Stephanie.
"Even though you'll officially be a teenager in less than three months, you're gonna have to wait until you're 18 since these books aren't suitable for anyone under the age of 18," said Spencer firmly.
"I understand, Spencer," said Stephanie.
Maeve looked at her husband as she thought about Violet and Arthur having their six-month checkup a few days early because of the twins' pediatrician Dr. Cindy Barry leaving for a week-long vacation in her hometown Salem, Massachusetts tomorrow, "Since you're going into work late and I have today off so we both can attend Violet's and Arthur's six-month-check up, what do you say about me coming to the B.A.U. with Violet and Arthur in their Halloween costumes so you can show off the twins' Halloween costumes in person?" asked Maeve.
Spencer smiled, "Aunt Erin does want to see Violet and Arthur in their Halloween costumes, so you guys can come with me to work while I know that my aunt or one of my teammates might offer me a ride home so I don't have to take the train."
Violet who was in her baby seat with a rattle looked at her father, "Dada."
Spencer looked at his daughter, "Yes, flower?" asked Spencer.
"Eee, baa geee, Dada," said Violet.
Spencer grinned as he pretended that Violet was telling him about how excited she was for Halloween even though he knew that his daughter didn't know what Halloween was yet, "Are you telling me about how excited you are about dressing up as Princess Leia for Halloween, flower?" asked Spencer.
Violet grinned as she blew a few raspberries.
"That's Violet's first time blowing raspberries," said Maeve.
Spencer grinned at his daughter, "Daddy's so proud of you for blowing raspberries for the first time, flower."
Mary looked at her daughter, "Violet and Arthur definitely have different personalities. Violet is the outgoing twin just like her uncle Johnathon was while Arthur is the shy twin like you were, Maeve."
Maeve gave her mother a sad smile, "I know, mom."
A few minutes later Stephanie was leaving for school with her best friend Holly while Spencer and Maeve got Violet and Arthur into their Halloween costumes for their six-month checkup since the receptionist told them to feel free to have Violet and Arthur wearing their Halloween costumes for their checkup.
A few hours later Spencer who was wearing a Frankenstein mask, monster hands, and a noose around his mask walked like Frankenstein was passing out candy to agents and civilian staff as he passed out candy to them. As coworkers thanked him for the candy, they complimented on how adorable Violet and Arthur were since they were dressed up as either Princess Leia or Luke Skywalker while Maeve who was dressed up as Marie Curie pushed the double stroller that held the twins. As soon as the family of four entered the bullpen, Spencer noticed Morgan bent over his paperwork causing Spencer to look at everyone and press his finger against his lip before he quietly walked over to Morgan and leaned towards Morgan as he started to growl causing Morgan to look at him, "I'm going to eat you!" exclaimed Spencer in his monster voice.
Morgan physically jumped at the sight of a Halloween costume-clad Spencer while Maeve, Violet, Arthur, Emily, and a few other agents and civilian staff burst out laughing as he righted himself and looked at his coworker, "Reid…"
Spencer partially removed his mask and grinned at Morgan and Emily, "Happy all hallows eve, folks. To paraphrase from Celtic mythology, tomorrow night all order is suspended, and the barriers between the natural and the supernatural are temporarily remooooved!" exclaimed Spencer in a spooky voice as he pulled out a shrunken head out of his paper bag and tossed it to a laughing Emily before he removed Violet from the stroller and fixed Violet's hand-knitted hat that looked like Princess Leia's braided buns.
Morgan took in the sight of Halloween costume-clad Reid family, "See, that right there is why Halloween creeps me out."
Spencer, Maeve, and Emily exchanged shocked looks.
"You're scared of Halloween?" asked Spencer.
"I didn't say I was scared, I said I was creeped out," said Morgan before thinking about Spencer being only 26, "There's a difference there, youngster. You should look it up."
"At least Violet and Arthur aren't scared of their daddy being dressed up right now like you were," said Maeve as she helped her husband remove his monster hands.
Emily looked at Morgan, "What creeps you out about it?" asked Emily.
"I don't know. People wearing masks. I don't like folks in disguises." said Morgan as he gestured to Spencer, Violet, Arthur, and Maeve who were all in their costumes.
Spencer grinned, "That's the best thing about Halloween. You can be anyone you want to be while I'm excited about passing down my love for Halloween to Violet and Arthur now," said Spencer as he tossed some candy onto Morgan's desk.
Morgan shook his head, "Nah, I'm pretty good just being me."
"Yeah, why is it that neither of those points of view surprise me?" asked Emily.
Morgan thought about the scary movies he had seen, "You know what, though? On the flip side, it does provide a pretty good reason to cozy up with a scary flick and a little Halloween honey," said Morgan as he winked at Emily.
Emily shuddered, "Halloween honey. Now I'm creeped out," said Emily before smiling at Violet and Arthur, "As a fellow nerd like your parents, you two are so adorable in your Halloween costumes."
Spencer quickly noticed his Aunt Erin coming towards them with David Rossi causing him to speak with an excited whisper, "Guys, he's here," said Spencer as he continued to hold his daughter as he quickly removed his mask while forgetting to remove his noose.
Chief Strauss smiled and shook her head at the sight of her nephew with a noose around his neck while her smile grew a bit as she took in the sight of her great-niece and great-nephew being dressed up as Princess Leia and Luke Skywalker who were either on her nephew's or niece-in-law's hips while she and Rossi walked past Spencer, Maeve, Emily, and Morgan, "You and your love of Halloween, Dr. Reid. I'll be down shortly to hold Violet and Arthur and find out how their six-month check-up went."
Spencer smiled at his aunt, "Violet and Arthur will still be here, ma'am."
Violet and Arthur both grinned when they saw their great-aunt and spoke in unison, "Hi."
"Hello, Violet. Hello, Arthur. You two look adorable in your Halloween costumes," said Chief Strauss as she and Rossi who had a neutral look on his face continued making their way up to Hotch's office.
As soon as Chief Strauss and Rossi were in Hotch's office, Emily looked at Spencer and Maeve as she eagerly took Arthur from Maeve as she thought about Spencer telling her that the twins' pediatrician had them come in early for their six-month checkup since the pediatrician was going on a week-long vacation on Friday, "How were their checkups?" asked Emily.
"Even though Violet and Arthur will have to go back to the doctor's office on Monday to get their influenza vaccinations done by a nurse, they're developing right on schedule or ahead of schedule while Arthur decided to start crawling this morning."
"That's good," said Emily before thinking about Halloween being the next day, "Are you two going to be taking Violet and Arthur trick or treating and keep Violet's and Arthur's candy for yourselves since the twins are too young for their candy?" asked Emily.
"We are, but we're going to trade Stephanie the candy she can eat for the candy she can't eat right now," said Spencer.
"Due to having braces on her teeth?" asked Morgan.
Spencer nodded as he thought about the rules he was given when he was taken to an orthodontist for braces, "She was told not to eat any popcorn, soft candy, or candy that she can't let dissolve in her mouth."
"Is she going to be getting her bottom braces on soon?" asked Emily.
Spencer nodded, "It's been planned that she gets her bottom braces on the day after Thanksgiving so she can enjoy our first Thanksgiving together without her teeth being in pain and not miss any school for an over hour-long orthodontist appointment."
A minute later Hotch and Rossi approached them.
"SSA David Rossi, this is SSA Emily Prentiss," said Hotch as he gestured to Emily.
Emily smiled and shook hands with Rossi, "Sir."
Hotch gestured to Morgan, "SSA Derek Morgan."
Morgan shook hands with Rossi, "It's an honor, Agent Rossi."
"Please, just Dave," said Rossi.
Hotch looked at the excited 26-year-old starstruck genius, "And Dr. Spencer Reid."
Spencer smiled as he gestured to Maeve, "This is my wife Maeve and the two babies in our arms are our kids Violet and Arthur.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Agent Rossi," said Maeve.
Violet and Arthur both grinned at Rossi, "Hi."
Spencer then excitedly started to ramble, "Sir, if I could talk to you later about your work with the Scarsdale Skinner. Psycho-linguistics is an incredibly dynamic field, and the fact that your profile of his reading habits ultimately led to his capture is something I find so incredibly intrig- -."
Hotch inwardly smiled as he thought back to Spencer's excitement when he met Max Ryan, "Reid, slow down. He'll be here for a while. You can catch up with him later."
"Sorry," said Spencer meekly.
Rossi gave a gentle smile as he thought about knowing that Spencer is about two years younger than his late son James, "No problem, doctor."
"Maybe you guys can talk on the jet," suggested Hotch.
Spencer nodded, "Oh, yeah, that'd be great."
"The jet?" asked Rossi as he thought back to one of the conversations he had with Gideon when the BAU was just formed.
Hotch looked at Rossi, "We have a jet now."
"Are you serious?" asked Rossi.
Hotch nodded, "Yeah. It comes in pretty handy. Come on. JJ's waiting," said Hotch before looking at Maeve, "You, Violet, and Arthur can wait by your husband's desk until your husband finishes briefing."
"OK," said Maeve.
Spencer looked at Violet as he passed his daughter to his wife who had taken over his desk chair and had Arthur on her lap, "Please be good for mommy, flower."
Violet's lip started to quiver as she started to cry, "Dada."
"Daddy will be back in less than 15 minutes flower," said Spencer as he kissed Violet's forehead and walked away.
As soon as Hotch told his team that they'll be leaving in the morning, Spencer rushed out of the conference room and hurried to his desk to find Violet and Arthur both chewing on teething rings while Chief Strauss held them on her lap as she talked to Maeve causing him to look at his kids, "Daddy gets to go home for the rest of the day, munchkins. So we might as well go home so we can spend some time together before I leave for Carrollton, Texas after breakfast tomorrow."
Emily, JJ, Morgan, and Garcia joined them, "Before you guys can leave, what about passing around Violet and Arthur?" asked JJ.
A few seconds later Violet and Arthur were being passed around by Chief Strauss, Hotch, Emily, JJ, Morgan, and Garcia while Rossi stood away from them.
Later on that evening, Spencer looked at Maeve as they ate dinner, "I'm sorry that I'll be missing out on taking Violet and Arthur trick or treating for the first time," said Spencer.
"It's OK, Spencer. You're going to be having over 12 more Halloweens to take the kids trick or treating since we're planning on having two more kids together," said Maeve.
"I know, but this is my first Halloween with Violet and Arthur," said Spencer.
"Even though it's possible that they're going to have eidetic memories like you, they're not going to remember today, Spencer," said Maeve.
Spencer looked at Stephanie, "I know that you're going trick or treating with Holly, Erica, and Ramona this evening, but I want you to stay safe."
"I promise, Spencer," said Stephanie.
At that moment Spencer's cell phone vibrated causing him to see that it was Hotch, "Hotch is on his way to pick me up, so I'll be home in a few days."
Maeve kissed her husband, "Please stay safe."
After giving Violet, Arthur, and Stephanie each a kiss on the cheek and grabbing his Glock from it's safe, Spencer was getting into Hotch's car.
Almost three hours later, Spencer was walking through a small wooded area with Rossi and Detective Yarbrough.
"We went over this area pretty thoroughly, and there's no evidence left," said Detective Yarbrough.
"I just want to stand where she was." said Rossi before looking at Spencer as he thought about a huge reason why he wanted to return to the B.A.U., "Dr. Reid, do we still keep all the old files in the fourth-floor storeroom?" asked Rossi.
"I think some are up there," said Spencer before wrinkling his nose a bit as he thought about how much he despised computers even though he got a Ph. D. in engineering, "You know, most of our information's on computer now."
"Right," said Rossi.
"Have you had a chance to go through our data since you've been back?" asked Spencer.
Rossi shook his head, "Not yet."
"You'll be amazed," said Spencer as he thought about what Gideon use to talk to him about before his death, "The original team- I mean, you interviewed something like, uh, 45 serial killers, right?" asked Spencer.
"Something like," said Rossi.
"Today we have interviews with over 1,000 offenders. Serial killers, child abductors, sex offenders- I'll go through it with you sometime if you like, answer any questions-," said Spencer.
Rossi decided to cut Spencer off, "Sounds good," said Rossi before they focused on discussing where Michelle's body was found while Spencer had to console Detective Yarbrough about not saving Michelle.
Later on that evening, Spencer was happily passing out candy to all the trick or treaters who were watching Enid White being taken away in an ambulance with his teammates who begged him to pass them some candy he had stashed in his messenger bag before he and his teammates got into the SUVs so they could fly home.
As they were flying home from Texas, Spencer was working on his report so he could go straight home to his wife, kids, and sisters smiled when he got a text from Maeve.
SINCE IT WON'T BE TOO LATE WHEN YOU GET HOME, ARE YOU GOING TO BE TOO TIRED TO SIT DOWN AND WATCH A HORROR MOVIE TOGETHER? ~ MR
Spencer smiled as he replied.
NOT TOO TIRED TO WATCH A MOVIE WITH YOU! ~ SR
A minute later Spencer had just finished his report and went to get himself a mug of coffee when Rossi joined him.
"Was that your wife you were texting?" asked Rossi.
Spencer nodded, "I alerted her that I'll be home tonight, so she suggested that we watch a Halloween themed movie when I get home."
"How long have you've been married?" asked Rossi.
"One year, two months, and 12 days," said Spencer just as his phone vibrated again causing him to smile when he saw that it was a picture of Stephanie, Holly, Erica, and Ramona all wearing white blouses and grey pleated skirts while they each wore a tie and a robe that dealt with either the houses, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin, "Stephanie finally sent me a picture of her and her friends in their Halloween costumes. Stephanie is wearing the Gryffindor robe, Holly is wearing the Hufflepuff robe, Erica is wearing the Ravenclaw robe, while Ramona is wearing a Slytherin robe."
"Have you read the books?" asked Rossi.
Spencer nodded, "Started reading the books when they first came out when I was a teenager attending CalTech while I have seen all five movies too," said Spencer before looking at Rossi, "I know that you have questions about why I have custody of my 12-year-old half-sister."
Rossi nodded.
"When I was ten-years-old, my father abandoned my paranoid schizophrenic mother and me instead of doing the right thing and commit my mom and raise me himself or ask a relative to raise me if he couldn't handle raising someone much smarter than him. I haven't heard him ever since he packed a suitcase and said goodbye to me before walking out," said Spencer before shaking his head, "I never knew that my father had started another family until a month after Violet and Arthur were born when a social worker in Portland, Maine called me and told me that I have a half-sister who just got injured in a car accident. My former stepmother who was disgusted with my father as soon as she found out about my mom and me causing her to file for a divorce and a restraining order before taking a 23-month-old Stephanie and herself to Portland, Maine requested that I take care of my sister if my former stepmother passes away before Stephanie turns 18."
Rossi felt hatred towards the young agent's father, "As someone who never had the chance to have kids, your father is a coward."
"I remember my mom calling my dad a coward before my dad left the house, but my revenge towards him is earning three PhDs and two BAs while I never tracked him down to tell him that he has grandchildren while I get to raise his daughter," said Spencer as his phone vibrated causing Spencer to smile at the sight of Zoey laying on top of one of his cardigan sweaters in her pet bed, "Zoey has must have dragged one of my sweaters to her pet bed again," said Spencer as he showed Rossi a picture of his charcoal lab, "Maeve and I adopted Zoey earlier this year."
Rossi quickly realized that his young teammate owns a charcoal Labrador retriever, "Is that a charcoal lab?" asked Rossi.
Spencer nodded, "When Maeve was 28-weeks pregnant with Violet and Arthur, Maeve and I ended up adopting Zoey who tackled me to the ground and started licking me as soon as she saw me at the animal shelter. She was so depressed after losing her family to a home-invasion homicide and she didn't get excited at seeing people until she saw me."
"I have a chocolate lab named Mudgie," said Rossi as he showed Spencer a picture of his dog, "He loves going duck hunting with me. We were just duck hunting before your aunt called me a few days ago to meet with me about coming out of retirement."
"Zoey prefers to be a lapdog on me when I'm home while she sleeps in Violet's and Arthur's nursery at night since my son is her favorite human after me," said Spencer as he pulled out his wallet and showed Rossi a picture of Zoey laying on her stomach as she kissed a laughing Arthur who was having tummy time.
Rossi gave Spencer a wistful look as he thought about the promise he gave to the woman he once loved and is related to the man who's sitting next to him and playing chess against himself as he thought about Chief Strauss telling him that Spencer was replaying the last game of chess that Gideon was in the middle of playing at his cabin before his death, "You ever gonna finish this game?" asked Rossi.
"It's a tough one," murmured Spencer.
"Playing yourself can be difficult. Playing a ghost even more so," said Rossi before deciding to call Spencer by his first name, "He's gone, Spencer. Keeping the game going won't change that even if you'll eventually be teaching your kids how to play within the next couple of years."
"I know," said Spencer before sighing, "I just thought that maybe I could keep part of him alive if his last game never ended."
Rossi shook his head, "Neither side will ever win playing like this."
"He hated good-byes," said Spencer.
Rossi thought about the case from 1979 that Gideon would never get to solve because of a rattlesnake taking him away too soon, "Gideon also hated unfinished business," said Rossi as he studied the chessboard, "So... Let's finish this game to honor one of my best friends and your mentor we recently lost," said Rossi as he moved a rook.
Spencer looked at Rossi in shock, "What are you doing?" asked Spencer.
"Moving my rook," said Rossi.
A shocked Spencer looked at Rossi, "Do you know how to play chess?" asked Spencer.
Rossi smirked a bit at Spencer, "Who do you think Gideon played before he met you?" asked Rossi.
Spencer looked at the board and grinned a bit, "I'm probably gonna finish it in five moves," said Spencer as he tapped the table a bit before moving a piece and took one of the black pieces as he gave Rossi a mischievous look, "Check."
Rossi shook his head as he thought about Chief Strauss warning him that her nephew is ruthless at chess while realizing that Hotch and Chief Strauss were right to warn him that Spencer has an effect on making everyone soften up and open up to him while he locked eyes at Hotch who mouthed 'thank you' to him, "Don't hold your breath, Dr. Reid."
Two hours later, Spencer and Maeve were cuddling on the couch as they ate some of the Halloween candy that was given to Violet, Arthur, and Stephanie as they watched the 1931 version of "Frankenstein" together.
A/N: Don't forget that it's still 2007 in this chapter so far. I didn't have Rossi didn't call Spencer 'Sonny boy' since they just recently met and I don't think that he would be calling Spencer 'sonny boy' right away based on how much of a jerk he was during his first few episodes in season three up until Damaged and the episode Solitary Man.
I was only eight-days-old when my first Halloween happened, so I know that my parents wouldn't have taken me trick or treating since I was out of the hospital for five days. I had to spend my first three days in the hospital since I was born by emergency c-section a month early while my mom had to stay for three days and I couldn't leave until my severely clubbed feet were casted for the first time when I was three-days-old.