Chapter 8: The Death of Gideon
Tuesday morning at 3 am in the bullpen, Callahan was at her desk writing her end of case report. Rossi was supposed to return from attending the funeral of Sgt. Harrison Scott. Garcia walked in looking for Rossi because Morgan called saying he had picked up Rossi. Callahan looked at Garcia and she started quietly giggling.
"What?" asked Garcia. "What is it?"
"JJ told me Reid's dream about you marrying him and his girlfriend," laughed Callahan. "I can't stop thinking of you saying to him, 'Kiss her, dummy!'"
Garcia and Callahan started laughing together.
"I can't stop thinking of me saying, 'I now pronounce you smart and smarter!'" laughed Garcia.
"Oh, my God!" laughed Callahan.
Garcia and Callahan held onto each other laughing. Morgan and Rossi walked into the bullpen.
"Ladies," said Morgan. "What's so funny?"
"Girl stuff," said Callahan.
"Yeah," said Garcia. "You wouldn't understand."
Garcia and Callahan turned to Rossi. Garcia hugged Rossi.
"Hello, my liege," said Garcia.
"How are you doing, Rossi?" asked Callahan.
"I'm good," answered Rossi. "Joy came to the funeral to be there for me. And, thank you, Penelope for finding the remaining veterans to attend Harrison Scott's funeral."
JJ walked in smiling with a glow.
"Welcome home, Rossi," said JJ.
"Well," said Garcia. "My girl has been smiling all day today!"
"Yeah," said Morgan.
"How was it going out to comic-con with Reid, JJ?" asked Rossi.
"It was a lot of fun," laughed JJ. "I never thought that I would have such a good time at a comic-con before. Spence was like a little child in a candy store when he met those book authors who autographed his books."
"Well," said Rossi. "I remember how excited the kid was when he first met me, so I can believe it."
JJ continued, "And, Henry loved playing all day in his Spider-man costume. He slept like a baby all the way home from comic-con."
"Did you and Reid wear costumes?" asked Garcia.
"Yes," said JJ. "From The Fantastic Four! Spence was Benjamin Reed, aka Mr. Fantastic and I was Susan Storm, aka The Invisible Woman."
"Ironic," laughed Morgan. "Reid was Reed!"
"How was the costume party?" asked Callahan.
"We won third place in the costume contest," laughed JJ. "I can't wait for the next comic-con convention!"
JJ started showing them comic-con photos she had taken on her phone when Hotch walked up to them looking distraught.
"Hotch," said Rossi. "What's wrong?"
Hotch answered, "I've just received a call about a possible fatal shooting."
"Where?" asked Callahan.
"In a cabin around 50 miles south of here," answered Hotch.
"Whoa," said Morgan.
"Oh, my God," said JJ.
"Guys," said Callahan. "What is it?"
"That sounds like Gideon's cabin," said Rossi.
"Oh, no," cried Garcia.
"Let's go to his cabin and find out," said Hotch.
"I'll call Spence," said JJ.
Reid received JJ's call and he answered his phone.
"Hey, JJ, what's up?" asked Reid.
"Spence," said JJ. "Please meet us at Gideon's cabin. I'm sorry, but there might have been a fatal shooting there."
Reid's heart stopped.
"Spence?" said JJ.
"I...I'll meet you there, JJ," said Reid sadly.
Reid hangs up.
"Is he coming, JJ?" asked Morgan.
"Yeah," answered JJ. "I sure hope it isn't him."
The BAU team arrived in two SUVs and went into Gideon's cabin. Reid sadly arrived in his car and it took him a minute to get out of his car to join them. Inside the cabin, Hotch looked at the covered body and he confirmed to everybody that it was Gideon who was murdered. Reid ran back outside sobbing.
At daybreak, Morgan and Reid went to the morgue to get Gideon's autopsy results. Outside the cabin, Hotch and Rossi talked to the ranger and Gideon's son, Stephen. Inside the cabin, JJ, Garcia and Callahan determined how long Gideon had been back in town. When Morgan and Reid returned to the cabin, JJ, Callahan and Garcia were standing outside the front door. JJ walked over to Reid while Morgan walked over to Callahan and Garcia.
"Hey," said JJ. "What did Dr. Weiss say?"
"She doesn't think that Gideon suffered too much," sadly answered Reid.
"Come here," said JJ.
JJ hugged Reid and he hugged her back while quietly crying on her shoulder.
"I miss him, too, Spence," said JJ.
"Gideon didn't suffer, guys," said Morgan.
Garcia cried on Morgan's shoulder. Morgan kissed her forehead. Callahan looked over at Reid and JJ.
"Do you two think they've been intimate yet?" asked Callahan.
"I don't know," said Morgan. "Reid hasn't said anything."
Garcia laughed, "Even if they have, he would never tell you! Whenever Reid arrived late for a new case over the years, Kate, my future husband always teased Reid about meeting a girl and taking her home to score with her! But, it was never true!"
"Hey," said Morgan. "I was just making sure that no pretty girl was taking advantage of our pretty boy!"
"No, Angelfish," said Garcia. "You were just being nosy!"
"Whoa, Mama!" teased Morgan. "Look who's calling who nosy!"
Callahan laughed. Garcia and Morgan looked at her.
"What?" asked Morgan.
"You are her future husband!" laughed Callahan.
Garcia and Callahan high-fived each other while laughing.
Callahan said, "Well, JJ hasn't said anything either. But, the way she was glowing earlier from telling us about the comic-con date, sooner or later they will be."
Rossi called Morgan into the cabin to help profile the crime scene. They reviewed the shooting order between Gideon and the unsub. Rossi noticed that Gideon shot a picture of a sparrow up on the wall.
"Gideon was the one who talked me into joining the BAU, JJ," said Reid. "All to believe in happy endings."
JJ put her arm around Reid.
"Well, I'm happy that he did that, Spence," said JJ. "Otherwise, I never would have met you."
"Thanks, JJ," said Reid. "I was always hoping that he would come back and play one last game of chess with me. Or, at least he had found somebody like Sarah Jacobs who would give him a happy ending."
"Well," said JJ. "Look at it this way. Both Gideon and Sarah are dead now. They could both be happily reunited together in heaven now. That could be his happy ending, Spence."
"Do you think that Will and your lost baby are happily together in heaven now, JJ?" asked Reid.
JJ's heart skipped a beat. She wasn't prepared for that question. She leaned her head on Reid's shoulder.
"Yes," tearfully smiled JJ. "I do think that."
Rossi came out of the cabin. He wanted to take a drive to the old underground Behavioral Science bunker and he took Reid along with him. They looked at a cold case of Rossi and Gideon's from 1978 in Roanoke, Virginia involving a missing girl named Tara Burnett. She was never found. That case brought the BAU team to Roanoke to search for the unsub who murdered Gideon. They found out that Gideon discovered that Tara Burnett was possibly found dead in Roanoke. Gideon drove back from Florida to find out. They had retraced his recent footsteps to the morgue, Tara's mother and a diner where Gideon spent a whole day staking out. The unsub noticed Gideon as an outsider and followed him back to his cabin and killed him.
Garcia and JJ discovered online a 60's bird group where most of the founders were deceased, but a nephew of a founder named Donnie Mallick was the biggest buyer of birdseed in Roanoke. Garcia also got an online missing persons alert for a young girl named Josie Behdart. She gave the team Mallick's current address. The BAU team went there and confronted him. Rossi shot Mallick dead. And, the BAU team had saved Josie Behdart from the same 40 year fate that Tara Burnett had suffered in Mallick's hands.
Back at Gideon's cabin, Hotch, Rossi and Reid told Stephen that they've caught Gideon's killer. Reid walked into the cabin and touched Gideon's chessboard inside. JJ noticed Reid inside at the chess board and she talked to Stephen for a minute. Reid came back outside and he hugged Stephen like a brother. And then JJ hugged Stephen. And then the BAU team left Gideon's cabin.
Gideon's funeral was beautiful. Garcia's computer hacking skills had discovered at least fifty different FBI agents, both current and retired who were able to attend the funeral. Emily Prentiss flew in from London to attend the funeral.
Even though Jason Gideon was retired from the BAU for eight years, they still gave him the twenty-one gun salute and honored him as a hero. They gave Stephen the American flag that was covering the coffin. Everybody started putting their roses on the coffin. Rossi put down one. Then Hotch did. Then Prentiss did. Then Morgan did. Then Garcia did. Then Callahan did. Then Stephen did. Then JJ did. Then Reid did. Then JJ took Reid's hand and they all left the cemetery. Hotch and Rossi made sure that Gideon's picture was put up on the Wall of Fallen Heroes at Quantico.
The funeral reception was done at Rossi's mansion. The eight family members were sitting at Rossi's backyard table. They all started telling each other about their favorite and funny memories with Gideon.
Rossi said, "...and, Jason said because our unsub's trail had gone cold, we were leaving behind somebody's baby because it was just the three of us against a whole bunch of the bad guys. He said, 'We needed an army!' And, I said, 'Then let's go back and build an army. And, why are you so edgy lately?' And, Jason said, 'You tell me, profiler!'"
Everybody laughed.
Rossi continued, "And, I said, 'It takes one to know one, Jason. You're expecting a baby, too!' And Jason said, 'You're very good, Agent. Not as good as me, but you're exceptional! If your book deal works out, Dave, maybe you can buy us a plane!'"
Everybody laughed.
"...and after Gideon got shot by the prison guard," said Hotch. "Agent Greenaway shot the guard and saved the woman's life. On our flight home, Jason asked me how my secret report on him was doing. He said, 'You didn't think you could keep that a secret from an old profiler, did ya?' He always was one step ahead of everybody else."
Everybody agreed with Hotch.
"...and Hotch, Gideon and the detective were debating about making an arrest now or waiting until after we received a search warrant for his house," said Morgan. "Well, Gideon ran up to the house, grabbed a vase, broke a window and entered the house and he cornered the unsub. The guy wouldn't say where the missing girl was, so Gideon said, 'Tear the place apart!' He found the girl hidden up in the attic and we brought her safely back home to her parents. That guy was the best!"
Everybody agreed with Morgan.
"...and we needed to get the unsub to confess to committing the murders before we could charge him," said JJ. "I asked Gideon, 'Do you think that he will confess?' And, he asked me, 'Did you do what I asked you to do?' And, I said, 'Yes.' And, he said, 'Then, maybe!'"
Everybody laughed.
JJ continued, "And, Gideon walked into the interrogation room and he showed the unsub the crime scene photos for the two separate murder scenes. And the unsub lost his temper and said, 'You have the pictures mixed up! You need to make them right!' And, Gideon went to the two crime scene photos that I switched and he said, 'Which ones? These two? You're right. They are switched. But, how did you know that?' And then, we fully charged the unsub for both of the family murders! Gideon always seemed to find a way to outsmart the unsubs!"
Everybody agreed with JJ.
"...and Gideon told our trainee group how he stopped an armed unsub alone in a gas station by provoking him to stutter more," said Callahan. "I asked him, 'Weren't you a little worried that he might shoot you?' And, Gideon said, 'No, I was a lot worried!'"
Everybody laughed.
"...and on our flight to Guantanamo Bay, Gideon and I were playing chess while Emily was watching our game," said Reid. "Then Gideon looked out the window and said, 'Game over,' while fastening his seat belt. Emily and I didn't know what he meant. And suddenly, the jet made a sharp right turn that made the chess board fall off of the table."
Prentiss smiled and nodded her head. Everybody else looked surprised.
Prentiss continued, "And after we leveled out again, Gideon explained to us that we needed to make a 90 degree right turn before we could land in Guantanamo Bay. He called it the GITMO twist. And, Reid said, 'I was winning.' And, I said, 'Actually, he would have had you in three moves.' Gideon was always full of surprises."
Everybody laughed and agreed with Prentiss.
"...and because Gideon had surgery done on his leg," said Garcia. "He had to stay behind with me during our next case out of town. He brought all of his files into my office and scattered them everywhere! He also ate his meals around me and made my whole room smell like soy sauce! Hotch called me and asked, 'What's it like having Gideon around?' And, I said, 'You can have him back whenever you want!' Gideon was a man who you could hate and love at the same time!"
Everybody laughed. Rossi rose up his glass for a toast.
"To Jason Gideon," smiled Rossi. "He was one of the founding fathers of the BAU, a brilliant profiler, a great chess player, a teacher, our friend and a hell of an agent! You will be sorely missed, Jason. To Gideon!"
"To Gideon!" said everybody else proudly.
Everybody sipped their drinks. When the party was over, the four BAU ladies were hugging each other goodbye before leaving Rossi's mansion.
"Garcia," said Callahan. "Give us one for the road!"
Prentiss smiled and added, "And for my flight back."
"Please?" asked JJ.
Garcia smiled at the three of them and said, "Kiss her, dummy!"
The four ladies happily laughed and group hugged each other.
A week later, after the BAU jet returned to Quantico from an out of town case, Rossi stopped Reid from leaving the jet while Hotch and the rest of the team departed the jet. JJ waited outside for Reid. Rossi talked to Reid for about twenty minutes before the two of them departed the jet. JJ and Reid walked to her car together and they drove to JJ's place for the night.
"What did you and Rossi talk about?" asked JJ.
"Rossi decided to trust me with the secrets that he and Gideon made when they first founded the BAU in case something ever happened to him," answered Reid.
"That's quite an honor, Spence," said JJ. "What are the secrets?"
"I can't tell you, JJ," said Reid. "I'm sorry. Rossi made me promise not to tell anybody about the secrets he's told me. The only way that I can tell you is if I die similar to the way Gideon did."
"Then don't tell me, Spence," said JJ. "I don't want you to die."
"Thank you," said Reid. "I don't want you to die, either, JJ."
JJ smiled at Reid.
"Did I ever tell you that Gideon gave me those Redskins game tickets as a birthday present, JJ?" asked Reid.
JJ looked into her Spence's eyes surprised.
"Do you think that Gideon was trying to matchmake us into a couple back then, Spence?" asked JJ.
"Hotch said that Gideon was one step ahead of everybody else," said Reid. "Gideon knew how happy it made me when you first started calling me 'Spence.' He also knew that you were a huge Redskins fan. So, yes, JJ. I do think he was trying to matchmake us into a couple back then."
JJ said, "So, as Morgan might say, Gideon tried to make me your real birthday present?"
Reid nodded his head. JJ smiled with a glow. They arrived at JJ's house and JJ climbed out of her car and she looked up at the sky while tearfully smiling.
"Thank you, Gideon," whispered JJ.
Reid and JJ walked up to her front door. Henry was staying with Sandy for the week.
"I have a surprise for you, Spence," said JJ. "Close your eyes."
"What is it?" asks Reid.
"Please," said JJ. "Take my hand and close your eyes, Spence."
Reid took JJ's hand and he closed his eyes. JJ unlocked the door and she led him inside the house and she took him into her living room.
"Okay, Spence," said JJ. "Open your eyes."
Reid opened his eyes and he saw JJ's surprise.
"JJ," said Reid. "This is the chess board from Gideon's cabin."
"Yes," said JJ. "I saw the way that you were looking at it in the cabin. So, I talked to Stephen. I convinced him to give it to you because Gideon considered you his family."
Reid smiled and he hugged JJ tightly. JJ hugged him back.
"Thank you, Jennifer," said Reid. "No offense, but why did you have Stephen bring it here? You've never played chess before."
"No," said JJ. "But, I thought that you could teach me how to play chess. This way, you don't always have to teach me in your place. Or, if it's wintertime at the chess park. I want to play chess with you..."
Reid quickly kissed JJ on her lips happily. JJ kissed him back and she smiled at her Spence.
"I take it that you like your present, Spence?" asked JJ.
"I love it," said Reid. "And, I love you, Jennifer Jareau. Thank you."
Reid kissed JJ again and she moaned happily in his embrace while feeling goosebumps all over her.
"I love you, too, Spencer Reid," smiled JJ.
"Uh, I want to thank you more for this present, JJ," said Reid. "But, if you want me to stop now, all you have to do is say, 'Stop.'"
Reid and JJ kissed each other again. JJ put her hands on Reid's face while smiling.
"Spence," whispered JJ. "I don't want you to stop. Please make love to me."