Disclaimer: I do not own any of these wonderful characters!

It had been almost two weeks since the team learned that Spencer's mom was showing signs of Alzheimer's. They knew how broken-hearted and worried he was. They could see it when they would catch him gazing out the window of the jet. Or when he looked up as if out of a dream after they had already called his name two or three times.

As turbulent as Spencer's relationship with his mom had been due to her being a paranoid schizophrenic, the love and devotion the genius had for his mom was unmistakable. It had been the two of them against the world for most of his childhood, his mom being the only true family he had. Watching the memories and recognition slowly fade away in his mom's mind couldn't be easy.

On top of that, Spencer had spent most of his life living in terror of his twenties, waiting for any tell-tale signs that his mind might be going down the same path as his mom's. As he made it past the typical age for schizophrenic breaks, the fear has slowly tucked its way further towards the back of his mind.

But now a new hereditary disease of the mind has entered his life. Whenever there was down time, they could him almost hear him running the statistics and probabilities in his head, figuring out what chance he had of dodging yet another mind-altering disease.

For almost two weeks they'd been listening to Spencer say, "I'm fine," to everyone, when they all knew that he wasn't. The team continued to try and convince him to go out for a drink, get something to eat, anything besides going to work and back home again, but they had no success.

One day, JJ and Morgan were by the coffee machine, trying to hide the fact that they were stealing glances at Spencer. "I don't know how to help him," JJ said, frustration clear in her voice. "He just won't talk about it."

Morgan shook his head while he stirred his coffee. "I know. It's always hard to get that kid to open up, but ever since I talked to him the night we found out about his mom, he's just closed up."

"I have to fight to get a smile out of him, and even then, I think it's just to appease me," JJ said. "His eyes just look so sad."

"JJ, he knows we're here for him," Morgan said.

"I know, but that doesn't mean he'll talk to us. I think he always feels like he's just a burden." JJ sighed and looked over at Spencer. "You know what, I have to do something. Have plans tonight?" she asked Morgan.

"Uh...I suppose Savannah might be able to handle one evening without her man," he replied with a smirk.

She started walking over to Spencer's desk with a determined stride. "Good, because we're going to put ourselves on Spencer's calendar tonight and I'm not taking no for an answer."

Morgan spun around and followed her lead. "Yes ma'am!"

For Spencer, the past few weeks had been emotionally exhausting. When he first went to visit his mom, he wasn't sure why the staff was having a harder time with her. They thought maybe her medications had to be adjusted, but what she had been taking had kept her at a fairly sane level for years. When he started spending some time with her during his stay, he did start noticing brief moments in her behavior that concerned him.

During one of his visits, she had left her book in the hallway. Books were her sanctuary, she revered books. Laying one down in the common area and walking away was unheard of for her. He picked it up and told her she had forgotten her book. She snatched it back, berating him for stealing other people's things. Though her behavior was a little out of character, he didn't dwell on it.

The most telling moment though, had been later in the week. Spencer arrived at the facility that morning, greeting his mom as he walked into her room. She was writing in her journal. When she looked at him, he saw emptiness in her eyes. It frightened him. He went to call her name again, but his voice stuck in his throat. He tried again. "Mom?" he said tentatively. He watched her eyes narrow at him, showing confusion on her face. He felt his stomach drop. She had no idea who he was.

Eventually she looked away and continued to write in her journal. Nervously, he moved closer to her and bent down to her level. "Mom?" This time when she looked up, it was as if she was looking at a different person than the one that was there a moment before. "Aw, Spencer, you came to see me!" she said with a smile on her face.

Of course there had been times when his mom was having an episode where she thought Spencer was someone else. But it was almost always because she believed he was someone playing a part of a conspiracy against her. This was different. Her look showed a complete lack of recall in her memory, like she had stepped into a deep hole and fallen in. And there had been no other signs of being in the midst of an episode.

After receiving his mom's official diagnosis of Alzheimer's, Spencer felt devastated. He wasn't ready to start watching his mom slip away. Her mind had already cheated them out of so much with the schizophrenia. And the Alzheimer's would steal what was left.

When he would visit his mom in the days that followed, he did his best to hide his emotion from his mom and the staff. Every time he looked at her, he fought off the lump climbing up his throat and the tears threatening to pour down his cheeks.

Thankfully when he returned to work, there was a new task at hand that immediately swept him up - freeing Garcia from her seclusion and continuous fear of the hit-men targeting her. He became consumed with one job in particular, cornering the hit-woman, Cat Adams. The whirlwind of research and planning, eventually leading up to his night out with Cat, was almost a relief providing hours upon hours of distraction.

The evening with Cat itself did not go as planned, though Spencer had learned over the years that encounters with serial killers rarely do follow normal protocols. However, of all the directions the conversation could have gone that night, he never thought it would end with him revealing his mom's newest ailment, not only to Cat, but to the team as well. It was something he honestly hadn't mentally prepared for, and he was more than a little disappointed in himself when he could hear the emotion in his voice as he allowed Cat to pull that information from him.

He definitely wasn't ready to share this personal information with his team. Spencer grew up handling things on his own. Despite being with the team for more than a decade now, he still found it difficult to talk about personal hurdles in his life.

Morgan had caught up with him after the case was over. As they talked a little, Spencer was surprised that he was able to keep it together enough to not completely break down into a sobbing mess before leaving. It did lift a little of the weight off his shoulders knowing the support of the team was there, as always, whenever he ever needed them.

In the days following, different members of the team had approached him, trying to draw him out. And he continued to thank them and decline their invitations. He knew they were trying to help, but he preferred his evenings alone where he could release his emotions without feeling that he was burdening his friends.

For the last two days, the team had let him be. Spencer thought they were finally getting the hint. He should have known that some of them don't give up that easily.