The Princess' Revenge

018

Emily decided that they would fly later in the morning to make up for the lack of sleep in the past few days. They had had wind down meal the previous night, discussing the cases and resemblance of the victims to themselves. They had also all retired to bed early in the hopes of getting a full night's sleep this time. They all settled themselves on the plane and breathed a collective sigh of relief when they took off and Emily's phone hadn't rang. The flight was a few hours which was broken up by card games and retelling of old stories. Their phones all pinged with a text, Rossi was the one to check it. "It's from Penelope, she says that there's a family dinner when we get back." Everyone else checked the message, before placing their phones down to continue the game of Trivial Pursuit with Reid reading out the questions as he was no longer allowed to play due to his comprehensive knowledge. The plane landed an hour later and everyone headed back to the BAU.

They walked in the doors to the bullpen and breathed in the familiar sight of the desks and the agents working. Anderson waved from where he was before heading around a corner. Garcia appeared with her bag strung over her shoulder looking slightly amused. "Thank goodness you're all alright, but what are you all doing here?" Luke shrugged, "Family dinner." He said sounding confused looking towards the round table room where they occasionally held them. Garcia sighed in a loving manner, "Oh I love you guys, but you really need to learn to read more than the first sentence. I said we're meeting at Rossi's." Rossi looked confused, but before he could enquire further, Reid jumped in with his own question. "Then why are you here?" Garcia shrugged, "Joy thought you wouldn't read the whole text." Rossi gave a knowing chuckle. The ragtag group made to leave, but Garcia called them back. "I have something else first." They turned face her, but she paused. "Yes?" Matt prompted. "First hug me, then I'll tell you." The group laughed and each hugged the splash of colour that was the analyst. "What was the other thing?" Luke asked, Garcia whistled and Roxy came bounding round the corner straight to Luke. He dropped to his knees and hugged the wiggling mass of fur in his arms. She licked his face with excitement. "Let's go." Garcia rallied her troops. They laughed but fell in behind the eclectic woman.

They arrived at Rossi's place and headed into the back garden, Roxy following. When they rounded the corner there was a loud shout of "SURPRISE!" Each BAU agent shrieked shocked and amazement at the colourful set up. Streamers fell from trees and were tangled in bushes, in a dizzying array of colours. Christmas lights doubled as fairy lights were flashing causing a mesh of colours about the garden. Hand drawn banners done by Matt's four children, Rossi's grandson Kai, and JJ's sons; Henry and Michael, were strung up in various trees. Kristy moved forwards to hug her husband and Matt was suddenly and spontaneously bowled off his feet by his four children: Jake, David, Chloe, and Lily who all began talking to him while everyone began laughing at the display. Luke and Kristy helped him to his feet while trying and mostly failing to control their own laughter, they dropped him at least once. While Matt's children were pointing out their drawings, he took the opportunity to hug Kristy and kiss her temple while she wound her arms around his waist. Luke began to entertain the four rambunctious children with Roxy, the children had just noticed the overexcited dog. JJ hugged her own children and kissed the tops of their heads before being wrapped in Will's arms. They shared a quick light kiss. She held young Michael in her arms. Henry hugged Reid with the other four children following suit, they hugged the other members of the BAU before going back to play with Roxy. Rossi in turn was hugged very tightly separately by Kai and Joy, he also shared a quick hug with Joy's husband and her mother all of whom were relieved by him being alright.

The team sat down, on some chairs, around a mess of picnic blankets which the kids sprawled on while eating the various foods that everyone had either made or bought. Kristy shrugged at the differing looks, "They..." she waved at the children, "thought you'd like a picnic for dinner." Matt leaned in and kissed her forehead. "This is perfect, thank you." The rest of the team nodded and Rossi lifted his drink in a toast, everyone else following suit. "To our families for putting up with us, thank you for your support and encouragement, especially for this amazingly wonderful night. To the BAU team for doing an excellent job these last few days. To everyone here both in body and in spirit. To my family, which means all of you." Everyone cheered at the end of Rossi's speech and clinked glasses both drinking. The team settled down with everyone swapping stories to entertain the children as the sun began to set and the sky darken. Soft hues of pink and red littered with purple began to paint the sky, mixing with the soft orange of the setting sun, the warm soft autumn air contrasted beautifully with the ringing laughter and the giggled stories mixing with the bright smiles of the family gathered. Everyone lay on their backs watching the stars wink into the velvet black sky and Reid began to show and tell the love stories behind some of the constellations.

"No matter how dark the moment, love and hope are always possible." George Chakiris