Disclaimer: I own nothing.

So here's the epilogue! We shoot forward pretty far time wise, but it wraps up…thank you for the kind reviews! My next fic is in the works :)

16 Years Later

"In the case of the Boston Reaper the BAU ended up determining that George Foyet was the Reaper," Derek was explaining to a room full of FBI cadets. He was leaning against his cane, clicking through a slideshow of articles and crime scene photos from the case that had very nearly destroyed Hotch's life. "Foyet was able to inflict the same wounds on himself that he'd inflicted on his victims to make it appear to law enforcement that he was the one and only person to survive." A hand raised and he used his cane to point at the cadet whose arm was up. "Yes, Turner?"

The petite auburn haired cadet nodded. "Agent Morgan, is it true you actually fought with the Reaper?"

At the time of the case and the following years after it would have embarrassed him to talk about his encounter with the Reaper that had taken him close to Death's doorstep that Foyet had used as a way of taunting him. As he'd gotten older though, he'd learned to forget the shame he'd once felt. Plus, the event was a helpful teaching about narcissistic personalities.

Nodding, he said, "Yes, that little fact is true. What happened was we ended up through a window and I passed out from a good knock on the head. He left a bullet for me as a reminder that he could've killed me. But what does this tell us about the Reaper's profile?"

A voice close to the door spoke this time as a slim young woman bearing a striking resemblance the man conducting the lecture.

"From everything known about the Reaper, the most well-known fact is that he was a major narcissist and sociopath."

Derek smirked. "And what does that mean in this case?"

The imitated this smirk to a T. "Foyet got off on the power he had over others," she explained. "So he also wanted victims to know it was him killing them. If you were unconscious he didn't get the satisfaction of that."

Derek nodded. Before he opened his mouth again, he glanced at his watch. The lecture had to end early; he had a previous engagement that required his attention. "Well, we're out of time for today. I'll see you all next week." He waved his hand in dismissal and the room began to empty of people. Fixing his daughter with a look of teasing sternness, he said, "Gee, what have I told you about showing up all the cadets in my lecture hall?"

Gigi rolled her eyes. "C'mon Dad," she snickered. "It's not every day a girl gets to come home from Columbia to bust in one a lecture conducted by one of the FBI's finest." She laughed and stepped into his open arms. "I missed you, Daddy," she said.

He kissed her forehead. "Well, you're the one who wanted to move all the way to New York City for school," he said. Tapping her nose, he added, "I'm glad we're doing this surprise style for your mother," he said. "She was so bummed when you said you couldn't make it."

"Yeah, well Mom blows every secret out of the water," she huffed playfully. "So if we wanted Uncle Dave surprised, telling Mom would've been a stupid move." She watched her father trying to put on his jacket while holding his cane at the same time and snatched it from his hand to make the process easier for him. "Dad, how many times do I have to tell you to hand me this when you need both hands?"

Scrunching his brow into a frown, he adjusted the collar of his jacket before taking the cane back from Gigi. "Humph," he grunted as the two of them headed out the door. "I can do just fine, thank you. Don't start acting like your grandmother on me now."

"Grandma Fran's a smart woman," Gigi pointed out.

Derek just grunted.

"Eh, don't worry. I act too much like you to do that," she assured him.

Derek just smiled, a twinkle lighting up his eyes.

XXXXX

Penelope was running around her house, ushering her three children who lived at home still towards the garage to get into the car to go to Rossi's surprise birthday party at JJ and Will's house. Derek would be meeting them directly there after his lecture finished up. She was extremely upset that Gigi wasn't able to make it, but she had to buckle it down if she wanted Rossi's party she'd helped plan to be perfect. It had been almost a year since she'd seen her daughter and it was killing her. Being apart from any of her children was hard for her since Ivan Drakoni had taken Gigi all those years ago. At first when Gigi had said she wanted to go to Columbia to study Psychology she'd been worried because Drakoni and Marley had been sent to Sing Sing Prison in New York, a mere few hours' drive from the city.

"Mom, I had Natalie do a little…research –" eighteen year old Gigi was trying to say.

Penelope cursed. "Georgiana Morgan, how many times do I have to tell you not to encourage your baby sister's bad habit of hacking? It got me into a lot of trouble back in the day."

"May I remind you, Mother, that had you not hacked you wouldn't have met Daddy," she chimed in.

Penelope fixed her with a glare. "You shouldn't tell her to do that, still," she huffed.

"This is beside the point," Gigi said. "Anyways, I had her look up both Ivan Drakoni and Marley O'Malley. Marley got into a fight in prison and was killed by his own knife. As for Ivan Drakoni, his charges of two murders, the possession of enough drugs to take over a small country with, and human trafficking, he'll be in jail for another sixty years and he's got no parole coming his way. We're safe as if we were locked up in a cellar and it was locked from the inside."

Penelope was silent for a good ten seconds before Derek entered the kitchen looking nervous. "You still have your heart set on Columbia?"

Gigi nodded vigorously. "Daddy, I've worked hard to get into that school," she said. "I studied my butt off to get all fives on those AP tests and a thirty-four on my ACT and a perfect score on my SATs. I'm going to that school…whether you like it or not."

Both Derek and Penelope shared a skeptical glance.

Huffing, she said, "Aunt JJ taught me everything she knows about self-defense. I'll carry mace AND pepper spray. I'll make sure not to go anywhere alone at night and avoid alleys." They still looked nervous so she added, "I'll call you both every night to let you know I'm alive."

Derek grinned; that was much better.

Penelope's eyes teared up. Her oldest daughter had always had a fearless streak, just like Derek in his younger days. The other children of the house – Gemma, Evie, and Natalie – had more of their mother's personality (Natalie taking on her mother's skills in hacking.) Sighing, she pulled her daughter into a hug and whispered reluctantly, "Okay…but I want you to be careful. No super dangerous stuff."

Blinking innocently, Gigi said, "What? So that means no bungee jumping off the Brooklyn Bridge?" She laughed at her mother's petrified face and said, "Kidding Momma."

"Gemma, do you have your Uncle Dave's present?"

"Yeah," her fifteen teen year old child said. She came forward carrying a package that contained a bottle of expensive classic scotch. "Evie and Nat already headed to the car. We're all ready to go."

Smiling, Penelope went forward to kiss her daughter's forehead. "Then let's get going."

XXXXX

"Gigi, bella!" Rossi boomed going forward to kiss Gigi on both cheeks. "We didn't know you were coming! I didn't expect you to be here…your mother's been moping for two weeks so I figured something was up with you."

Gigi smiled. She'd changed in the bathroom into a navy blue party dress and heart necklace that she hoped Jack Hotchner would appreciate. She'd always had a special place in her heart for him and when they'd started a semi-dating relationship it had only gotten worse. He may have been six years older than her, but that didn't stop them one bit. They were smitten. "We didn't tell Mom because we didn't want her spilling the beans. I'm surprised this party was even a shock to you; surely she must've let something slip."

Rossi grinned. "Nope," he said with a grin. "Not a thing slipped from that mouth of hers."

All around them party guests were showing up and Gigi was looking around for the rest of her family. She couldn't wait to see her mother and sisters. Meeting her father's eyes, she noticed he looked relatively nervous as he was glancing around the room. As far back as she could remember, her father had always displayed signs of worry about every person around him outside of their family and the BAU team. Gigi knew it had to do with his time in captivity when he'd been forced to fight and was beaten mercilessly by members of the Drakoni drug ring. Her heart bled for him every time they were out in public or gathering with lots of people.

"Hey Uncle Derek…Gigi…"

Gigi turned around to see Jack standing with his hands in his suit jacket's pockets. Grinning widely, she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. "Jack!" she cried. Pulling away, she gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "I missed you!"

He smiled sheepishly before moving a lock of hair behind her ear. "We only saw each other last month," he said shyly, glancing nervously at Derek. He knew well that his uncle would beat the shit out of him – no matter who his father was – if he hurt Gigi or broke her heart.

"Gigi!"

Turning away from her boyfriend, she smiled widely when her baby sister – probably the most intelligent girl she'd ever met and already an intrepid hacker – Natalie running up to her. She hugged her tightly. "Hey Nat!" she said. "How're you doing? Staying out of trouble, I hope."

Natalie shook her head. "Nope! Always up to no good, I am." She looked behind her to see if their mother was following along. "Mom must not have known you were coming. She's been sulking for a few weeks now. It's kind of like when Gemma went away to summer camp and she stared out the window a lot." Turning around again, she smiled when she saw Penelope coming in with Gemma and Evie tailing behind her. "Hey Momma! Look who's here!"

Penelope looked to where her daughter had directed her attention and her mouth dropped open. Immediately she rushed towards Gigi and was hugging her tightly. "Why didn't you tell me you were coming?" Pulling away, she turned to her husband and glared at him. "Did you know about this, mister?" she demanded. "Because if you did I'm going to smack you upside the head!"

Derek threw his hands up in surrender and pointed one of them at Gigi. "It was her idea," he said.

Gigi fake gasped. "Traitor," she grumbled. Looking at the hurt expression on her mother's face, she kissed her cheek and added, "It was mostly so it would be a surprise for Uncle Dave. And no offense, Momma, but you can't keep a secret worth a damn."

"Oh," Penelope said like it was no big deal all of the sudden. She put her arm around Jack next and fixed him with a smirk. "You treating my baby with decency, Jackers?"

Groaning, Gigi cried, "Mom! Leave him alone! Jack is wonderful." She put her arm around his waist, pulling him away from her mother, and laid her head against his chest.

Jack's face lit up a hundred degrees and he looked like a cherry tomato.

Penelope grinned. "I'm just messing with you Jack," she said in an attempt to calm his nerves.

Suddenly a blare came from the microphone at the makeshift stage that had been set up in front of a dance floor. It was Reid, standing awkwardly with his haphazard tie and vintage sports jacket. Smiling crookedly, he said, "Well, to start of this shindig, we'd like to start off with a toast to Mr. David Rossi. Dave, the day you retired from the BAU was one of the saddest in its history. You were an incredible agent, profiler, and are an even better friend." Raising his glass, Reid added, "So if everyone would raise a glass to David Rossi, let's honor him with a toast."

"Dave!" Everyone raised their glasses and drank a toast to Dave Rossi.

XXXXX

Penelope and Derek were swaying gently to a slow dance that was on at the request of Rossi so that he could dance with Strauss. Derek's dancing was rather difficult and had been for the past sixteen years, but if he held his cane in one hand and had his arm around Penelope's waist it worked out quite nicely.

"Sorry this isn't exactly normal," Derek murmured in her ear.

"You always apologize for that, Hot Stuff," she whispered back. "You should know that it's never bothered me. Ever." Running her nails in a small circle on the back of his neck, she added, "That cane is pretty sexy too."

He grinned and kissed the side of her face. "I love you, Baby Girl," he said, pulling away from her cheek and kissing her fully on the lips. He nibbled on her bottom lip a moment and she giggled.

Touching his face gently with one hand, she looked him deeply in the eye and whispered softly, "The happiest day of my life was when I got you back. If I hadn't and you were still in that horrible place, Gigi would never have gotten her father and we never would've had our other three beautiful daughters. I'm never going to lose you again."

He glanced around the dance floor at his daughters: Gemma dancing with Emily's son Brandon, Evie sitting with Natalie and Henry, and Gigi's forehead resting against Jack's, both their eyes closed. He smiled softly before returning his gaze to Penelope and kissing her again. "You never have to…I'll always come back to you."

Smiling, she said, "Good."