The Boss' Niece (Spencer Reid)

21. The Chameleon

A year. That's how long had passed since the Chameleon permanently scarred Rossi. In that time, the BAU continued to solve case after case, occasionally seeing if any new information or leads had emerged regarding the Everett Lynch case. Hotch had nearly given up his job as the BAU's Unit Chief after a few run-ins with Strauss and her ever-growing anger with the BAU not following protocol. Rossi also tried to move on with his life by marrying one of his ex-wives.

As for Spencer and Cassidy, their relationship was like any other. They had their ups and downs. The downs mostly came when a member of the team nearly found out about them. But, they would find a way to keep their secret. Their relationship had been going on for a year, and within that time, neither of them had said the L word. Neither of them had admitted that they loved each other. It's not that they didn't love each other- no. They both wanted their admittance of love to be special. But, knowing their jobs, that would take a while, but neither of them minded. They both knew that they loved each other, but they also wanted to hear it.

The job itself had been full of Rossi spending hours upon hours by himself, going over the Everett Lynch case.

Everett Lynch. The media had christened him "The Chameleon". He was a con man and a murderer, who had targeted vulnerable middle-aged women, single mothers. He'd cut off their faces and keep them as his trophies. A year ago, the team nearly caught him, but his daughter Grace...she sacrificed herself so that he could get away. He broke Grace out of jail...and again, they almost caught him, if it hadn't been for his daughter. She'd do anything for him. But that wouldn't matter because Lynch couldn't bring himself to take Grace with him.

Cassidy, Spencer, and Rossi sat in a secluded room, a board with the Everett Lynch case covering it.

"It's been a year since we first encountered Lynch." Spencer eyed the board, glancing over the photos of the dead bodies and case reports.

"Yeah, I'll probably forget my wedding anniversary, but I'll never forget that day. And this is where the BAU began. It's the one place I can still hear Gideon's voice prodding me to, um, "think outside the box." Rossi laughed, leaning back on his chair.

"Something like, uh, "I am the unsub." Cassidy mimicked Gideon's voice, a smile on her face.

"Who's my daddy?" Rossi chuckled.

"That's what we've been missing." Rossi leaned forward, his hands intertwined.

"Roberta gave us the name." Spencer mentioned, but Rossi quickly shook his head.

"Roberta lied. She just wants to appear to be helpful to everybody. She's got her own agenda." Rossi reminded Spencer, who exhaled, nodding his head.

"What are you thinking...get paroled, find her son, and get revenge for the death of her granddaughter Grace?" Spencer mentioned a good reason.

"The trifecta." Cassidy scoffed, sitting down.

"Killing her own child is far more common than most people think, and in filicide cases, mothers are just as likely as fathers to be killers." Spencer rambled.

"Which is why Roberta doesn't want us to get in the way of her taking care of family business." Rossi added.

"Still, filicide not only requires that she harbour deep resentment, but also that she disassociates from her relationship to her only child." Spencer seemed unsure.

"Which she did when I showed her the photo of Grace's dead body." Rossi pointed to the pictures on the board.

"Were you gonna share all this with the rest of the team?" Cassidy asked, confused.