(Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or its characters)
Thanks to Caroliny Hotchner, Anareris, R Leaf, hellomynameisv, AZCatmom, fishtrek, Nivi, Guest, Lady Lunera, and lunadely for reviewing the last chapter.
I was trying to get this out earlier but I wasn't feeling it. My cat, who was 19 and who I had grown up with, passed away Sunday night and it ruined all my plans of being early. It really was his time though, I'm just trying to get used to not being able to see him.
Anyway, thanks for all your support through this story. Keep letting me know what you think in the reviews.
Enjoy
"I don't understand," Aaron said slowly. "Why would he attack Reid?"
"M-maybe it's not our unsub," JJ said as she bit down hard on her lip. Her mind was on Spence; she just wanted to see him.
"It's definitely our unsub. Without a doubt," said Morgan as he shook his head. "But Hotch is right. Why the hell was Reid attacked. He has nothing to do with the initial kidnappings."
Emily looked up then. "Spencer was here to visit his parents, right, Morgan? He might have just been in the wrong place... mistaken for another of the boys."
"But why Reid? Unless..." Morgan looked at Aaron. "Maybe he's going after people you know, Hotch."
Rossi was shaking his head at that. "That doesn't fit the profile. Our unsub has only attacked his past victims. He goes out of his way to do so."
"So what are you suggesting?" Morgan asked.
Rossi pressed his head into his hand. "I don't know. But Reid must have been chosen for some reason. Maybe he was connected. How old is he?"
Penelope seemed to wake from her shock because typing could be heard. "He's twenty-five, sir."
"That would make him... three at the time," Emily put in.
"So-" Rossi froze. Three...? Three. Reid would have been three.
Emily took over from Rossi who looked lost.
"He didn't take kids that young. Maybe Reid was a failed kidnapping before Hotch... maybe he got away."
Reid is the same age as my son, Rossi thought with disbelief, he'd never realised. Reid was a living example of what his son could have been. Rossi made a soft grunting sound in an effort to cover his sudden swell of emotion.
"There were never reports of near-kidnappings linked to the case," muttered Aaron.
"Okay... what about... uh, were there any boys called William who you may have forgotten about. That's Reid's real name," Morgan said but Emily shook her head.
"None of the men on the list are called William." Aaron was nodding his head in agreement. There had never been a William.
"No Reid?"
Aaron shook his head.
JJ lifted her head slowly as the team drifted into silence. A thought caught her suddenly and her stomach felt uneasy. "Spence," she mumbled.
"Huh?"
"Spencer," JJ said, loudly this time. Rossi turned his head toward her, his brows set low. "What about Spencer?"
Aaron stared at JJ and blinked slowly. Of course there was a Spencer. Spencer Rossi... Aaron glanced over to Dave who was frowning hard. But the only Spencer there was dead now...
Emily gasped. "He would have been three," she whispered. She looked up at Dave who was glaring back.
"No."
Aaron's eyes widened. It couldn't be... could it? He turned to look at Rossi. "Reid was three... his name is Spencer. Dave do you think...?"
Rossi shook his head vehemently. "The unsub is clearly delusional. He must of found Reid and was reminded of my son. That's it."
Morgan scoffed at that and folded his arms. "And he just so happens to pick one of Hotch's agents?"
"What you're trying to suggest is more proposterous. My son is dead. This is a case of mistaken identity which Reid has fallen foul to."
Aaron turned to Garcia who was nervously listening from behind the screen. He met her eyes. "Garcia," he started but she'd already nodded and started to type.
Rossi unfolded his arms and pushed up from the table. "What are you doing?" he demanded, frightening Garcia as she typed faster. "Aaron!"
"I am just as confused as you are," Aaron said, turning and coming nearly face to face with Dave.
"Reid's birth certificate says he was born March ninth 1981... t-that would make him... twenty-six," Penelope said.
Rossi found himself letting out a sigh of relief. "There you go, he's older than my son," he said.
Aaron frowned. "But that doesn't explain anything. Meat- the unsub's youngest victim was three, the rest of us were all much older. There is only one boy from then that matches Reid's age and name."
"And he's dead," Rossi snapped sharply.
"Spence always told me he was born in 1982," JJ said. She was frowning too. Morgan nodded. "And I'm sure his birthday is in October... right, when did we celebrate his last one? Late October?"
Aaron and Derek glanced over at Rossi who had grown significantly paler.
"When was your son's birthday?" JJ asked quietly.
Rossi didn't say anything for a long moment before, in a cracked voice, he said, "October twenty-eighth... 1982."
No-one spoke after that, they didn't know where to look either. Morgan, however, managed to look back at the laptop screen. Garcia was looking back at him, her expression appearing haunted.
"Baby girl?"
"I-I found a photo... o-of Reid when he was four o-or five... it... i-it-"
"What's wrong?"
"Dave... what did the unsub send you a few days ago?"
Although they were no longer there, Rossi could feel the invisible presence of his son's baby-teeth in his back pocket. "Spencer's teeth," he mumbled. Garcia closed her eyes and nodded.
"You should see this then..." she typed a few keys before another tab filled their screen.
Rossi gripped the table when a photo of a young boy in a shabby shirt and brown corduroy popped up on screen. He noticed instantly the startling similarities between this child and his own but since his son's death, he'd always looked at other children and imagined his own son alongside them. And he hadn't seen his son in over two decades, his memories were getting cloudy.
The child in the photo wasn't looking toward the camera. His eyes were looking at something behind the camera and his smile, if one could call it a smile, was forced. Dave felt his breath catch for a moment.
The smile... the child had no teeth.
May 3rd 1983
Rossi got home from work to loud crying. He sighed and hung his coat up, getting his shoes out of the way before stepping into the living room where Erin was cradling there son.
"Hey?" Rossi said quietly as Spencer shifted unhappily against Erin's shoulder. She turned and tried her best to smile. She glanced at Spencer with a sad look.
"Teething has been rough today," she said with a slight roll of her eyes. She glanced behind her and gave Dave a sympathetic smile. "Would you take him," she mumbled. "I haven't started dinner yet."
"Sure. Come here, kiddo," Dave said, offering his arms toward Erin who passed over the baby before quickly hurrying to the kitchen. Dave watched her for a moment and patted Spencer's back. The baby started to fuss again so Dave turned away and started toward his office.
"Shhh, come on now, ace, what's all this noise for?"
Dave turned into his office and sat heavily in the chair behind his desk. He shifted his son so that he was looking up at him and Dave's smile fell a little when he saw how sad Spencer looked.
"Aw, you're breaking my heart, kiddo."
Rossi sighed and rocked Spencer for a minute but the boy still writhed miserably in his arms. After some time trying to calm Spencer down, a smile spread across Dave's lips and he swivelled around in his chair and reached for the drinks cabinet.
"Don't tell mommy," Dave whispered as he placed a half-full bottle of whiskey on the desk. With his arm still wrapped safely around his son, he unscrewed the bottle-cap with embarrassing ease. Rossi glanced toward the door and smiled in relief that Erin wasn't close by.
"Here, buddy," he said, pulling the bottle to his chest and tipping it up against his finger. "My mum used to do this when I was teething," he whispered, placing the whiskey back on the table and carefully poking his finger into his son's mouth. He gently rubbed the liquid against Spencer's red gums, grabbing the whiskey again to rub more on his top gums.
Spencer whined at the intrusive action but when Dave pressed his fingers to his gums a second time he sucked thoughtfully at the strange new flavour.
He stopped crying too. He looked up at his father with a frown and Rossi laughed. "Good isn't it? I guess I know what to get you on your eighteenth." Rossi squinted at the whiskey bottle and whistled. "And you have expensive taste too, don't ya?"
Dave grinned down at Spencer and the baby made a happy noise. He attempted a smile like his dad's and Rossi beamed back at him.
Rossi glanced down again, thinking he'd seen something in his son's sweet smile. He broke into an even wider grin of his own when he confirmed his suspicions.
"Huh, how didn't I feel that. Tooth number one, bambino!" he cried, lifting Spencer under the arms and holding him high in the air. "You did it! You got your first tooth, buddy!"
Spencer giggled as he looked down at his father's happy face. He kicked his feet a little as he reached toward his dad's goatee.
Rossi was still smiling proudly as he brought Spencer back down onto his chest. The baby quickly scrunched his fingers into Dave's shirt while Dave ran his fingers through Spencer's light curls. The only thing he was thinking about was that Erin was going to be the tooth-fairy in their family.
May 1986
Joe Robert's sat with his knees pressed together as he watched the door at the top of the stairs.
Meat-Man had taken Ralph yesterday and Joe hadn't spoken to the other boys since.
The youngest kid, Spencer he thinks he's called, had been asking so many questions. That was until Wally had slapped the kid.
He hadn't liked that. The kid, who couldn't have been older than a toddler, had sat in a corner, crying to himself.
Sure, Joe felt bad for him, but he wanted to go home just as bad. Besides, if Meat-Man had heard the kid would probably have gone upstairs by now.
They sat in silence for several more minutes before the door above creaked and quiet footsteps came into being.
Joe looked up and let out a sigh.
"Don't move!" The voice belonging to the footsteps cried. The kid emerged from the stairs with a gun raised. Joe shivered, the kid was about five and he was holding a bright silver gun at him.
"Oh, new kid! Cool."
The boy walked over to Spencer who raised his small hands upon sight of the gun.
"Leave him alone."
The boy, who they only knew as the kid from upstairs, swung around, bringing the gun with him. He glared at Joe. "I do what I want," he said.
"Yea well... just leave him alone," Joe said and he eyed the gun. A kid that young shouldn't touch something as powerful as that.
The kid from upstairs frowned. "Why?"
Joe shrugged. "He's little," he said with a glance toward Spencer who had pulled his head up slightly.
"So."
"So just leave him alone, and give us all a break, kid. You live up there, you're safe."
The boy from upstairs grinned. "Yea," he mumbled and he stepped away from Spencer.
"Pa says we're getting another kid soon. Maybe you can be friends with 'im."
Joe snorted and looked away. "Thanks," he muttered sarcastically.
"Piss off."
The boy from upstairs whipped around, raising his gun at Wally who had spoken. Wally just glared back at him. "You can't say that to me!"
"I just did. Now go away! Meat-man won't let you kill us, he likes it too much," sneered Wally and he narrowed his eyes. "Do you hear him at night," he hissed. "Probably pleasures himself to the sounds of our screams."
There was a groan of disgust in the room and Joe shot Wally a glare. "Dude."
"What, it's probably true. He's sick."
The boy from upstairs had lowered the gun but he was watching Wally.
"I'll make sure you're next," he said and Wally, rather childishly, stuck his tongue out.
"Go ahead, bet you're his toy-boy anyway. Freakin' perv."
The boy from upstairs frowned, clearly not understanding and he turned and wandered back upstairs, slamming the door behind him. They all heard the click of the lock and that's when Joe swivelled around to scowl at Wally.
"You wanna die?"
Wally's eyes went wide. "No..."
"Then stop annoying him. You'll get all of us killed."
There was a snort from across the room and Joe looked up to see Anthony shaking his head.
"We're already dead."
Present
The news was still slowly sinking in in the small conference room set up by the station.
Rossi shook his head at the photo and nearly laughed bitterly. Instead he just scowled.
"Rossi... I hate to admit it but I think... maybe Reid is your son."
"You're wrong."
"Spence wouldn't be targeted otherwise, your son is the only one that matches."
Emily nodded. "Reid was clearly supposed to be a personal kill for the unsub. That's why he stabbed him twice, took his tooth and sent a message to Aaron through him. I-If he is your son then it would make sense that the unsub would want to go overkill, Reid's outsmarted him for twenty-two years... and you."
"We need to look into this more," said Aaron as he looked across at Dave who's fists were shaking at his sides. "You should do a paternity test with Reid to-"
"No!" JJ and Aaron jumped and looked up at Rossi.
He turned, leering back at the team. "You know," he said. "I think it's sickening. You... all of you, lying, trying to convince me I still have a son-a-a living son!"
"We would-"
"Save it! It's admirable, truly; the lengths you're willing to go. Is Reid in on this? Just because the kid has daddy issues doesn't mean you have to give him a new one! He is not my son. My son was murdered. He is dead." Rossi paused, his lips curling up slightly in his anger. "Dead!" he shouted. "Me and my wife will not play happy families with yours and Reid's sick-"
Aaron stood so sharply that Rossi jumped back, forgetting his words. Aaron glared at him. "What is sickening, David, is the fact that you believe any of us capable of contorting a lie like that!" he yelled. Rossi clamped his hands on the table and leaned across it to sneer at Aaron.
"I believe you capable of many things," he spat. Aaron's brow lowered fiercely.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
Morgan also pulled himself up from his chair but Rossi and Hotch were too busy glaring each other down to notice. "Reid was targeted, Rossi. How in the hell do you explain that? The unsub only targets victims, Spencer has to be a victim and-"
"Don't call him Spencer," Rossi hissed, glancing briefly at Morgan. "His name is William."
Morgan was about to protest again but Aaron was faster. "You better start listening soon, Reid is now an integral part of this case and whether you like it or not, we're checking yours and his DNA."
Rossi shook his head. "What is it, Aaron?" he asked, his voice so soft it startled Aaron. "Is it guilt? Is that why you're doing this? After all those years and you still feel guilty for what you did." His voice grew a sharp edge and Aaron gritted his teeth.
"What are you talking about?" he said.
"I know what you did."
Aaron felt his chest tighten as he looked back into Rossi's angry but terribly grief-stricken eyes.
Rossi spoke again and his voice broke slightly. "I know how you ran and left him. You all got out and left a three-year-old child behind."
Aaron looked away.
"He couldn't reach the window!" Rossi's voice crumbled and he reached a hand up to cover his eyes. "H-he couldn't reach..." he whispered, unable to pull a sob back. Aaron retreated from the table and turned away.
The rest of the team were watching Dave with sad eyes. They all started to feel guilty as Rossi breathed shakily.
Aaron's eyes stung with tears. He remembered when he realised Spencer wasn't with them. The sickening feeling he had that night crept back over him as he pictured Spencer reaching up to the window.
"Thank you-" Aaron turned his head at the sound of Rossi's voice. The team looked back up at him. "For all of your concern but I am aware of my son's fate. There really is nothing more to it."
Thanks for reading.
I really liked writing that argument. Things were so tense, someone was gonna break. Before anyone says Rossi was really harsh, just remember he's mainly driven by grief and revenge right now, he's not his usually calm self.
See you next Friday.