Chapter 13: Rossi's Two Families
Near Halloween, Garcia hosted another "Day of the Dead" celebration. Hotch, JJ, Reid, Callahan, Rossi, Prentiss and Morgan attended. Garcia started by putting up a photo on the family tree of the late child, Hope Kingston, who had committed suicide as the prisoner of her abductor, Bill Rogers. Morgan and Prentiss hugged Garcia. Rossi put up a photo of his old marine troup on the family tree to honor the late Sgt. Harrison Scott, who had recently died of bone cancer. And, to honor the late Private First Class Anthony Hernandez, who heroically gave his life in battle back in 1969 so that young Sgt. Scott and young Private Rossi could live. Rossi also put a baby rattle on the tree to honor his late stillborn son, James David Rossi. JJ and Prentiss hugged Rossi. Callahan put on the tree a photo of her late sister, Liz and her husband, Joe, who both died at the Pentagon on 9/11. Garcia and JJ hugged Callahan.
Hotch put a photo on the tree of the late US Marshall Sam Kassmeyer, who was brutally tortured and murdered by George Foyet while trying to protect the hidden whereabouts of Haley and Jack from Foyet. Garcia hugged Hotch. Morgan put on the tree a photo of the late Detective Ware, who died right in front of Morgan in the line of duty. Morgan also put up a photo of the late child, Damien Walters, who was murdered by Carl Buford. Reid and Garcia hugged Morgan.
Prentiss put on the tree photos of her late friends and colleagues, Sean McCalister, Jeremy Wolff and Tsia Mosley, who were all killed by Ian Doyle. And, a photo of Declan Doyle's late nanny, Louise, who was killed by Declan's mother, Chloe Donaghy. To everybody's surprise, Prentiss also put up a photo of herself on the family tree. Her psychiatrist, Dr. Tara Lewis, wanted Prentiss to take the time to mourn her own death by Doyle's hands. JJ and Garcia hugged Prentiss. Reid put on the tree a photo of his late mentor, Jason Gideon. Morgan and JJ hugged Reid. And, JJ kept her promise to Garcia and put on the tree a "Baby on Board" sign to honor her late unborn baby she had miscarried in Afghanistan. Callahan and Garcia hugged JJ. Then Garcia made a toast to honor their late friends and loved ones. Everybody had a good time remembering their late loved ones, including Reid, JJ, Prentiss and Callahan.
The following Monday, the BAU team were working another case in California. Rossi and JJ were alone at police headquarters. JJ was looking at the photos of the female murder victims while coming up with theories as to why they were murdered while Rossi was deeply looking at a photo on his phone screen.
"Maybe the unsub killed them because he hates all women," said JJ.
"Uh huh," said Rossi.
"Or, maybe they're surrogates for one woman who the unsub hates," said JJ.
"Yeah," said Rossi.
JJ looked over at Rossi.
"Or, maybe the unsub was abducted by aliens," smiled JJ.
"Maybe," said Rossi.
"Okay, enough," laughed JJ. "Spill it!"
"What?" asked Rossi.
JJ sat down next to Rossi.
"In the eight years that I've known you, David Rossi," said JJ. "Nothing has ever distracted you from a case before! Nothing! What is distracting you today? Spill it!"
Rossi showed JJ a photo of Hayden and Kai on his phone screen.
"Awww," said JJ. "Is that your grandson?"
"Kai Struthers," said Rossi. "Joy and Shawn took it the week that I took off to spend meeting the family I never knew I had."
"He's a cutie," smiled JJ. "And, the woman is...?"
"Hayden Montgomery," said Rossi. "Ex-Mrs. Rossi number two, and Joy's mom!"
"Oh," said JJ. "There's a lot of water under that bridge, huh?"
"29 years worth," answered Rossi. "It was Kai's birthday, and Hayden showed up not knowing yet that Joy had found me."
"That must have been awkward," said JJ. "Did Hayden explain why she didn't tell you about Joy?"
"The job," answered Rossi. "This job! She said that I loved the job more than I loved her!"
"Well," said JJ. "Haley divorced Hotch because she felt that he loved the job more than he loved her. But, we both know that she never stopped loving Hotch. Does Hayden still love you?"
"Maybe," said Rossi. "Joy told me that Hayden had remarried, but Joy found out about me from her stepfather just before he died. And then, Hayden told Joy my name and what I did for a living. Joy said that I was the love of Hayden's life, but I didn't believe that. Back then, I was a screw-up, JJ. I'm not sure what I would have done if Hayden had told me that she was pregnant with Joy."
JJ said, "When I told Will that I was pregnant with Henry, Will said that he would give up his New Orleans badge and move to DC to marry me so that we could raise Henry together. But, I don't know about you, Dave."
"What does that mean?" asked Rossi.
"Would you really have given up your FBI career to stay up at 3 am changing diapers and trying to put baby Joy to sleep?" asked JJ. "Or to play games with Joy in the backyard? Or to have tea parties with her? Or to be an overprotective father during Joy's high school and college years? Or to walk Joy down the aisle on her wedding day?"
"No," admitted Rossi. "I probably wouldn't have."
"Hey," said JJ. "You know that I'm not putting you down. I'm saying this out of love."
JJ hugged Rossi with her left arm.
JJ continued, "I'm just saying that those were probably the questions that Hayden was asking herself after she found out that she was pregnant with Joy. I just want you to look at this from her point of view back then. When I lost my second baby, I chose not to tell Will or anybody about it. Expectant mothers make the most difficult choices sometimes. And, maybe alone, we make the wrong choices. And, what about now?"
"What about now?" asked Rossi.
"Do you want to try getting together with Hayden again?" asked JJ. "You're not a screw-up anymore, Dave. You've always helped take care of our family. And, Joy did say that you were the love of Hayden's life. Maybe the two of you can make up for lost time now."
"I don't know," said Rossi.
"Well," said JJ. "Somebody wise who I greatly love, admire and respect recently told me that life is short sometimes. And, telling somebody that you love them is worth the risk. I think that Emma, Carolyn and Strauss would all want you to be happy with somebody else who is special to you. They wouldn't want you to be so alone and so uptight that Garcia..."
"Don't say Garcia thinks that I'm Hotch's brother!" said Rossi.
JJ laughed and said, "Oh, I was so close! Anyway, Spence was my first love. And now, Spence and I are making up for those ten years that we didn't spend together as a couple. You wanted me and Spence to be happy together, and we are very happy now."
"I must admit," said Rossi. "You do have a glow in your smile these days. And I don't just mean because you're pregnant."
"Thank you," smiled JJ. "Both of us would want to see you happy as well. Ask yourself, 'What is it you want for your future, David Rossi?' Maybe it's time for you to take your own sage advice."
"But, Hayden doesn't know how much I've changed over the years," said Rossi. "How can I show her just how much I have changed?"
"Well, you could invite her to DC for a family party at your mansion," suggested JJ. "If Hayden meets all of us at the party, then she'll see just how much you've changed."
Rossi Italian-kissed JJ's cheeks for the love and encouragement.
"Thank you," said Rossi.
"And, Dave," said JJ. "There's something that I've been meaning to ask you."
"What is it, Jennifer?" asked Rossi.
"On my wedding day," said JJ. "Will you walk me down the aisle?"
Rossi was speechless. His heart soared.
"My mom wants to do it," continued JJ. "But, she's letting me wear her wedding dress. And, Hayden did cheat you out of walking Joy down the aisle at her wedding. And, my father has cheated himself out of walking me down the aisle. And, you're the closest thing to a father I have, and..."
"Jennifer," smiled Rossi. "I would be honored!"
Rossi and JJ hugged each other tightly.
"Thank you," whispered JJ.
"Okay," said Rossi. "We need to get back to work. We still have an unsub to catch. You won't tell Hotch about this, will you?"
"Tell Hotch about what?" asked JJ. "Nothing ever distracts David Rossi from a case. Nothing!"
Rossi smiled at JJ.
After the case ended, Morgan visited Giuseppe Montolo in a supermax prison. Montolo wanted to cut a deal with Morgan. Morgan asked him how many members of hitmen there were. Montolo started coughing while saying there were four other hitmen. Morgan asked him who the Dirty Dozen were. Montolo started coughing harder saying it wasn't a who but a what. Morgan told him to drop the sick act and write down everything he knew about the hitman network of four. But Montolo started coughing up blood because he had been poisoned. He fell down on the floor and died right in front of Morgan.
Morgan went back to Quantico and told the BAU team that Montolo was poisoned by one of the guards through the last meal that he ate. Hotch told Morgan that the guilty guard was found shot dead execution style in his car. The BAU team all agreed that the hitman network of four did both of these murders. Hotch had Garcia search the Darknet for any possible leads to the identity of the Dirty Dozen.
Rossi's daughter, Joy came to Quantico to ask her father and the BAU team to help her find a missing girl named Bahni Desai from Judy Temple College. Joy did a press investigation on four other missing college girls who were all found dead. Rossi and Joy talked to Bahni's sister, Aasia. Prentiss, Reid and Morgan checked out Bahni's dorm room and saw that she was dressing up for a party and she left her cell phone in her room. The unsub who took Bahni took her to his father's house. His father was in the living room watching TV. The unsub snuck Bahni upstairs into the attic and he stuffed her into a trunk and poked holes in the trunk with his knife to scare her into being quiet.
The textbooks in Bahni's room led Prentiss and Morgan to talk to Bahni's classmate, Paddy Morris. Paddy said that she talked Bahni into joining her at a party last night that she thought was going to be epic, but it wasn't. Paddy made Bahni stay until her tennis boyfriend showed up to the party. Both Paddy and Bahni got drunk while waiting for him. Bahni left the party alone. Garcia was able to get the security camera feed between the house party to Bahni's dorm. They caught Bahni walking down a street drunk with a man wearing a cap coming out of an alleyway after her. There were no other camera shots of either of them after that. Hotch opened a missing persons case with Alexandria PD for Joy.
The unsub let Bahni out of the trunk and he put a leashed collar around her neck and told her he was keeping her. He hooked up a camera to his phone so he could watch her. He left the attic to go fix his father dinner. Bahni tried to follow him to the door, but the leash was too short for her to reach the door or the attic's window. Rossi and JJ held a press conference asking for any information that could help them find Bahni or the man in the alleyway. Aasia tearfully pleaded on camera for Bahni to be brought back safely. The unsub and his father were watching the press conference. And upstairs, Bahni could hear Aasia's pleas from the TV.
The man from the alleyway came to Quantico and talked to Rossi and JJ. His name was Sam Burnett. He claimed to be a sober cab driver who saw Bahni being picked up by another man. And his alibi of taking a cab fare afterwards cleared him from taking Bahni. But, Joy wasn't happy that they let him go. Joy called up Sam claiming to be writing a story about Bahni's disappearance to ask him what he saw happen to Bahni. Joy was secretly recording their talk on her cell phone. She followed Sam into an alleyway alone thinking he was just telling her where he saw Bahni go. But, Sam attacked Joy in the alleyway instead. Fortunately, Rossi and JJ arrived in time to stop the attack and arrest Sam. JJ put Sam into the back of the SUV. Rossi lectured Joy on her impulsive actions.
Joy tearfully admitted to Rossi that in her college days in 2006 she walked home drunk and alone from a frat party one night and a man attacked her trying to rape her. Joy fought back and scratched him and got him to run away, but she didn't report the rape attempt. And then a week later, a man murdered her classmate, Kathy Miller. Joy was afraid that Kathy's murderer was the same man who tried to rape her the week before. Rossi profiled that Joy's rapist wasn't the same man who murdered Kathy because he thought ahead a private place to take Kathy to murder her while Joy's rapist was impulsive and not thinking ahead, trying to rape Joy right where they were, instead.
Joy's secret recording of Sam's attacking her got Rossi and JJ to ask Garcia to check out all of the parked car's license plates that were caught on camera before Bahni disappeared. She pinged on a Chinese restaurant driver named Tom Larson who was delivering Chinese food regularly to Bahni's dorm room. Tom was arrested before for peeping girls, and Tom had also been abused many times by his father. His mother kept giving alibis to child services until she committed suicide. And, Tom's father had a stroke a year ago and now Tom was his father's caregiver. Tom was the unsub who kidnapped Bahni. Rossi and JJ received Tom's home address from Garcia.
Bahni tried making a homemade mace attack out of the Chinese food and soda that Tom gave her to eat. When Tom came back into the attic, she maced Tom and made him drop his knife. Bahni screamed for help while struggling with him. Tom's father came up to the attic and he recognized Bahni from the press conference. Bahni thought that she was saved, but Tom's father wanted to kill her instead. Tom's father tried choking Bahni to death, but Tom choked his father to death instead with his own cane. Rossi and JJ showed up and arrested Tom and saved Bahni. An officer confirmed that Tom's father was dead. So, Tom's charge of kidnapping got a murder charge added to it.
Joy and the BAU team watched the happy reunion of Bahni and Aasia in the bullpen. Hotch and Prentiss went to Sam Burnett in the interrogation room. Sam knew that Joy's secret recorded attack couldn't be used in court. But, it got the BAU team a warrant to search Sam's home. Morgan, Reid and Prentiss found a necklace that belonged to Kathy Miller. And, trophies from three other murdered girls. Rossi, Prentiss and JJ approached Joy and Garcia.
"We've tied Sam to murdering the other four college girls you've investigated, Joy," said Prentiss.
"Including Kathy Miller," said JJ.
"You have your father's instincts," said Garcia. "Always trust your gut!"
"Look," said Rossi. "We need to talk."
"I know," said Joy. "I'm sorry that I went off to meet him without telling you. It was stupid and reckless, just like you said."
"I'm not talking about that," said Rossi. "This trauma you went through in college doesn't just go away because you did good for somebody else. You should talk to somebody about what you went through. Somebody like your old man, maybe? I won't lecture."
Prentiss, Garcia and JJ quietly laughed.
"What?" asked Rossi.
"Oh, nothing," laughed Prentiss. "But, does this sound familiar? 'Emily, you can't tell the public that information without violating protocol!'"
"Or, 'Jennifer,'" smiled JJ. "'Trust in what we do to catch the bad guys and save the innocent people because it works! Don't trust a psychic with a criminal record, instead!'"
"Or, 'Penelope,'" smiled Garcia. "'You substituted tofu for pancetta in my Italian recipe? Maybe you should just order a pizza or stick with burgers!' Face it, sir! You will lecture!"
"And, you've already lectured me, dad!" smiled Joy.
"Okay!" said Rossi. "I will try not to lecture. But, I promise that I will listen."
"Tofu for pancetta?" asked Joy.
"I'm a vegetarian," said Garcia. "Anyway, your father is right."
"Your trauma won't go away because you helped someone else," said Prentiss. "If you don't feel comfortable talking to your dad because he lectures, here's my card. You can call me instead, if you want to."
"And," said JJ. "Here's my card if you want to talk to me, instead."
Joy's phone pinged. Joy looked at the screen and saw Garcia's name and five phone numbers on it. She looked up and noticed Garcia was holding a cell phone.
"I do digital," said Garcia.
Reid, Morgan and Hotch walked up. Garcia held Morgan's hand. Reid and JJ kissed each other's lips. JJ leaned her head on Reid's shoulder.
Garcia continued, "But, talking woman to woman might be easier for you. Doing this job, all of us have had traumatic events. I was shot by a guy I went out with. I saw an innocent man die right in front of me! And, I recently shot a bad guy for the very first time to save my friend's life!"
"I was hit over the head with a wooden plank by one bad guy," said Prentiss. "I was brutally beaten up by a cult leader. And, I was shot, kidnapped, branded and staked in my stomach by a third bad guy."
"I suffered a miscarriage," said JJ. And, I was kidnapped, strung up by my arms, water tortured and electrocuted in my ribs. And, I was also the victim of an attempted rape."
"Uh, I appreciate it, ladies," said Joy. "But, the case is over. You don't have to do this for me."
"Oh, we're not doing this because of the case, Joy," said Garcia.
"We're doing this because when you came here last year telling Dave that you were his daughter," said Prentiss. "You didn't just become his family."
"I didn't?" asked Joy.
"No," said Garcia.
"We're not just your father's team and colleagues," said JJ.
"We're his family," said Reid.
"All six of us," said Hotch.
"It took him a couple of years to warm up to us," smiled Morgan.
"But, he eventually loved us," said Garcia.
"That means you became our family, too," said Prentiss.
"We don't have to do this, Joy," said JJ.
"We want to do this," said Garcia.
"Penelope," said JJ. "Tell her what you once told me about family."
"You're our family, Joy," said Garcia. "You're stuck with us whether you like it or not! Good or bad, right or wrong, for richer or poorer, sickness or in health, we're in this together! Deal?"
Hotch and Reid smiled. Morgan, JJ, Garcia and Prentiss grinned at Joy. Joy laughed at their silly grins.
"Uh, deal," laughed Joy.
"Good!" said Garcia. "Hugs!"
Rossi watched Joy hugging everybody. Then Joy's phone rang. Joy looked at the caller ID.
"It's my editor. This is Joy Rossi," answered Joy.
Rossi and the others all looked surprised. Rossi's heart soared.
"Okay," said Joy. "Just send me what you've got. Thank you."
Joy hung up and noticed they all were looking at her.
"Joy Rossi?" said Rossi.
"Well, I wasn't able to use the name Rossi growing up," said Joy. "So, I thought I could try it now. What do you think?"
"I think I need to subscribe to your magazine," said Rossi.
"Me, too!" said Garcia.
The BAU team watched Rossi and Joy happily hugging each other tightly. Then, Rossi escorted Joy to the elevator to take her back to her hotel.
"And, by the way," smiled Rossi while looking over at Prentiss. "She whined, 'Don't Emily me!'"
Prentiss looked at Rossi with her mouth wide open while gasping. Joy, Morgan, JJ and Garcia laughed. Then Prentiss laughed, too. The elevator doors opened. They both walked into the elevator. Joy was a little confused about Garcia's family speech.
"Dad?" said Joy. "Did your colleagues just marry me?"
"No, child," laughed Rossi. "They just officially adopted you! Have you ever wondered what it would be like to have a sister to talk to? Well, now you've got three sisters to talk to! Two brothers and your Uncle Aaron!"
"That Penelope Garcia is...unusual," admitted Joy. "I like her!"
"Uncle Aaron," Rossi thought to himself. "Maybe JJ was right. Maybe I am Hotch's brother, after all. Well, he likes me better than his own brother, Sean!"